Hello All,<\/p>\n
Nothing beats the anticipation of leaving the country for the first time.\u00a0\u00a0 All I have to do is think about customs and I get fever dreams. On January 28th<\/sup> I will be boarding a plane out of LAX to begin a three week long research trip to Nicaragua where I will be completing two projects on Field Behavior and Conservation Biology.<\/p>\n The first ten years of my life I lived on a horse ranch. Every day I learned a new concept of biology, whether it was the ants that invaded my pepper tree fort or watching a mare give birth.\u00a0\u00a0 Surely this had some role in my decision to go to UCLA and more specifically to focus my studies on Environmental Science and Conservation Biology.\u00a0\u00a0 I can only imagine what younger me would do if he knew some day he would be participating in such a unique and valuable project, in Nicaragua of all places!<\/p>\n Perhaps even more horribly exciting\/terrifying than leaving the country for three weeks is my hope for measureable, quantifying, and novel data. I know that this is not a unique experience; every butterfly-net-wielding, fisherman-vest-owning scientist has felt this. For me, a lot more seems to be riding on this.<\/p>\n When I came to UCLA I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. And then I didn\u2019t know what I wanted or who I was (again, not a unique feeling).\u00a0\u00a0 I have since then taken relative comfort in the idea that I will grow up (or perhaps I will never grow up) and contribute to conservation research. Maybe even save a species or two, you know, attainable goals. These next few weeks are going to validate this, hopefully. I imagine myself stepping off of the 4 hour boat ride down the R\u00edo San Juan, placing my two feet on the dark chocolate rainforest floor, and knowing that THIS <\/strong>is what I want to do for the rest of my life. But I could just as likely perish from over-perspiration and return to Los Angeles, knowing nothing once again.<\/p>\n Until Then, Cheers,<\/p>\n Joseph Nikko Curti<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello All, Nothing beats the anticipation of leaving the country for the first time.\u00a0\u00a0 All I have to do is think about customs and I get fever dreams. On January 28th I will be boarding a plane out of LAX to begin a three week long research trip to Nicaragua where I will be completing … Continue reading Searching for Answers (and Data)<\/span>