To be a bird is to be free. To go wherever your gut and heart may lead your being.

Some protect
their young and their mate vehemently with their lives, others are content to subsist and emerge
only in the shadows, fulfilling their niche while nobody notices. A Grebe engages in an
outrageous courtship dance that leaves the most dispassionate onlooker agape. Many are
better described as an “LBJ” or “little brown jobbie” whose physical features may not be enough
to distinguish them from the pack, but their personality and attitude reveal their true nature, her
identity to those keen enough to look.

In recent years I have found myself impassioned by my avian neighbors; In them a renewed
understanding and comfort in my place in the world. Although a bird is in our minds entirely free,
that is of the gravity that suppresses you and me. A bird too is bound to this world by its feelings
of obligation, duty, and a persistent need to eat to survive. She may sing songs of sorrow, joy
and bewilderment, and may find intrigue in objects never meant to grace her presence. A
penguin father is far more nurturing than a sire in most species across the globe. A brown
headed cowbird is better described as a brood parasite, who kicks an egg from a nest and
replaces it with her own, to be raised by the victim species. So is the way of the world, through
birds I've been enlightened in my views. Everything and everyone finds their place among the
natural order. Including me. I know nothing to me more true across all species, across the globe.

I currently work in a unique position at the high school I formerly attended. I am the Natural
Sciences program aide and my focus is primarily on the safety and operations, and animal care
of the program's robust curriculum. The program is incredibly afforded use of a boat, and a
commercial crabbing license. We also perform osprey banding for the NJ Fish and Wildlife and
maintain a number of their seasonal nests along the shore. Within the program we use 50 meter
aquaculture ponds for tilapia and channel catfish, chicken and duck coops for egg production,
and hold a “scientific collection and holding permit“ enabling us exposure to live animals and
parts usually reserved for museums and zoos.

I can state with absolute certainty that working as a staff member within this program has
shaped my future for the better. I have gained many interests and passions that I may not have
derived just a few years prior. This position within the school led me to working as an oyster
farmer over the summer season as well as a Large Pelagic Intercept Surveyor for a
subcontractor under NOAA. I enjoy observing animals in their natural habitat and gaining insight
into their world. I am equally inspired by the past origins and history of the creatures on this
planet. Where did they come from? Why did they come to be? What purposes and niches did
they fulfill and what’s changed? I strive each day to gain a better understanding of the species of
this world I’ve found comfort in knowing that although we may have conquered this planet, we
aren’t too different from anything else that lives on this strange rock.