Rebekah's Story

Growing up, I was very sheltered. I never really got to know about my own community. Then, I read about the ocean and all of the mystery it holds. I read about dolphins speaking to each other through echolocation and sharks with rows and rows of sharp teeth. I realized that, living in the Bay Area, the ocean was not so far away. But then, I read about how the ocean is polluted and species were really disappearing. I could not let that happen so I devoted my time to do what I could to save the living organisms in the ocean from disappearing.

I am excited about conserving marine life because the ocean takes up 75% of the world and we have not even come close to discovering all of the organisms that live under the sea. If we as humans do not stop polluting the ocean, we may wipe out some species before they are even discovered. When I am studying marine life, I feel as if I am doing something good for humanity by increasing our knowledge of the world that we live in and fueling our curiosity to learn more.

The Marine Science Institute Project Discovery is the best program for me because I will be living on a boat studying marine life, just like a marine biologist. I want to be a marine biologist so that I can study specifically what species are affected by human activity and how we can save them from going extinct. This program will give me experience in the work environment of a marine biologist, which will make me competitive when applying for college and for a job as a marine biologist.