I want to be a marine biologist. Everyone who teaches in any of the sciences and at practically any level knows this motivation and knows that it can be every bit as strong as I want to be a doctor. It can also be just as uninformed. It s wonderful when students become excited about something, particularly a career goal. It gives them ambition, a sense of direction and a sense of confidence and identity.
Marine biologist sounds great.
It conjures up a life of worldly involvement unfettered by the demands and commotion of life on land. It gets one close up to exotic, mysterious and awesome organisms. It appeals to altruism and activism save the whales, save the porpoises, feed a hungry world and abounds with adventure. It is attended by images of glamorous travel, ocean voyages, scuba-diving, super cameras and personal submarines. Fitness, the outdoors, comraderie and derring-do add easily to the mix.