While shadowing at the Marine Science Center in Daytona, Florida, for three days, I was able to participate in a variety of different activities. Shell, an educator and the person I shadowed, took me with a group of high school seniors to scoop plankton, wade the waters with nets, and learn about the local wildlife. I was also able to participate in different lectures pertaining to reptiles and birds. My favorite lecture I attended and eventually lead was the Turtle Talk that addressed the following key points: how sea turtles normally get injured, the three things the marine science does when first receiving a turtle, and why it is important that animals that are to be released should not be imprinted or become accustomed to humans. In the last couple of days, we released a Green Sea Turtle to the ocean and I did a squid dissection for the little kids that weren’t quite old enough to do it themselves. Throughout it all, the experience of working with kids more than made up for not being able to be in the research lab as much as I wanted.
What I did while shadowing may not have been what I had originally planned on doing, but I did take away some valuable experiences that speak to what I want to do for the rest of my life. Working with and teaching children all day opened up the door for possibly becoming a teacher in the future. Also, as much as I loved doing odd jobs, I loved learning a lot more about why certain chemicals or why certain pH levels were needed in different tanks. Job shadowing is always a worthwhile experience, even if it isn’t the perfect job because every little thing one can learn about what he/she doesn’t like about the job just leads one further in the right direction.
