Career Girls

Have you always wondered how and why things happen in the natural world? Are you fascinated by the awesome power of weather? Then maybe a career in meteorology is right for you! If you’re like me, you love science, but you never really thought of meteorology as a scientific field. But make no mistake—there is a lot of science in the weather forecast!

When I was a kid, I had no idea that I would become a meteorologist someday, but I always had a huge interest in the natural world. When my Kindergarten teacher asked the class what we wanted to be when we grew up, I told her that I wanted to be a paleontologist! By the time I was in first grade, my interest had skewed more toward the planets and outer space. My teacher even let me teach a weekly class about the planets to the rest of my classmates! And in fourth grade, I founded the “Science Club” at my school. By this time, my biggest interest was in the life on Earth. A very general term for this type of life science is Biology. So, our Science Club would explore any of the living things we found on the playground or in the fields surrounding our school.

Throughout middle and high school, I guess you could say that I just kept exploring, I hadn’t yet found my career path. During my freshman year, I declared my major in Biology and had the intent of proceeding to medical school. But, I wasn’t exactly passionate about medicine. I just loved science, and I knew that the medical profession would provide lots of career paths! But everything changed when I started taking a freshman Biology class, one of my core requirements for the Biology major. In this class, we talked a lot about Ecology, which is the study of the environment’s interaction with its life forms. This environmental study was fascinating to me, and I knew I wanted to move away from medicine and into earth science! I switched my major to Meteorology, and never looked back.

I’m telling you this story because I want you to know that it’s okay if you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up! As long as you keep exploring, you’ll find your way to a fulfilling and exciting career.