Childhood Aspirations

All of my childhood life, I was fascinated with creatures of all kinds. Critters that flew, crawled, jumped, and galloped; I loved them all. An early memory shared with me by my Mom was the stress I relayed when a family member chased an unsuspecting mouse while our family house was under construction. I saw the little furry rodent as one I wanted to keep. Having a hamster as one of my first pets at a young age, I suppose I could see the comparison. If my hamster was worthy to stay, the mouse was too! Even beyond this mouse (which, to my knowledge, did not end up living comfortably in the hamster habitat of Earle Street but remained right and proper in the wilds of Windsor), I was the saver of any animal I could find.

Insects, mammals, fish; I was hooked. And from this grew a dream of working with whatever animals I could get my hands on. I grew up dreaming of living on a farm on Grenfell Heights in my hometown and someday becoming a veterinarian. This dream stuck with me all through my schooling. I was able to fuel this dream by studying the sciences in high school: biology, chemistry, physics. But of these, biology was my favourite.

Biology at Work

I was even fortunate enough to explore the career opportunities through my co-operative education class where students could work on-site with partnering organizations. In my grade 12 year, I worked for part of the year at the Exploits Valley Animal Hospital and then at the Department of Environment and Fisheries government office in Grand Falls-Windsor. I was getting experience in basic care of small animals and working in field explorations with a freshwater biologist. I knew from these experiences that biology would have a role to play in my future.

Visiting with my guidance counsellor before high school graduation, I learned of the school that I knew would put me on track to achieve the goals I set and prepare me for the future I envisioned. Mr. Warren introduced me to the small University College that would later become my home: Nova Scotia Agricultural College, located in Truro. This small science college focused on all aspects of agriculture; the plants, the animals, the economy and businesses, the engineering. It was a small school (approximately 1.000 students the year I enrolled) that offered its first students experience and learning in all aspects of the agricultural industry. Though I knew I wanted to work with animals, I still had the opportunity to learn about plants too. But, knowingly, it was my time in the campus livestock units and the Animal Sciences building where I had my most meaningful learning experiences that furthered my love for the science of life.

Leaving the Farm

As an agricultural student (commonly -- proudly -- called "aggies"), I got to learn more about how the agricultural industry feeds us, how to nourish livestock so that it could nourish communities, how we, as omnivores, are part of an interconnected food chain. I also learned how vital is the role of healthy plants, the producers in our ecosystem. When my study as an Animal Science undergraduate was coming to an end, I investigated this relationship for the purpose of sustaining shellfish production -- like a mussel farm, for example. My fourth-year seminar ( or research project) focused on growing a species of blue-green algae, an aquatic plant, to help feed cultured shellfish. It combined all aspects of this interconnected food web; feeding the blue-green algae to feed the shellfish to feed people.

My learning of agricultural science in those years did not, in the end, lead me to plan A of my childhood dreams. After graduation, I did not enrol in veterinarian school as I had hoped I might. But, my love for biology existed still, and I decided I wanted to share the subject with others. Plan B of my post-secondary experience was to become a high school biology teacher. So, from a campus farm in Nova Scotia back to our provincial university, I kept my fascination and love for all the animals, all the plants, and all the workings of nature (including our own bodies). I studied ways to share this subject with students like you, then practised them during my teaching internship at Exploits Valley High where I taught both Biology 2201 and 3201, and hoped for my first biology class of my own.

Growing a New Farm

And what about the farm of my dreams now? It is still there. Though it may not be to the scale of a local producer, I am trying out many of my first-year learnings with a small backyard vegetable garden. And I hope to one day live somewhere in retirement that will allow me to house chickens, maybe a goat, and where any field mice I encounter can continue to roam free; perhaps even munch on the veggies growing in the farm of my dreams.