Introductions
Hi! My name is Sarah and you’ve enter my blog page so hold on tight its gona be a wild ride! Not quite sure where to begin so I’ll start from the beginning: It all started 4.6 Billion years ago at the beginning of time with the big bang. Now fast forward to when matter was created and land continents existed with all sorts of exotic animals. 200 Million years ago the continents were shifting and a huge land mass broke off of Gondwanaland. That is the beginning of Antarctica although at that point it was lush and tropical. It would take 1000’s of years more for the icy tundra that it is today to form. Meanwhile I came into existence some years later in the city of Boston. In my early life I didn’t think much of the South Pole, mostly being concerned with Santa Clause’s house at the North Pole. That was all to change when I was visiting my grandmother in New Zealand and she was struggling to come up with ideas to entertain her 18 year old granddaughter from the States. It wasn’t a particularly nice autumn day so we opted for an indoor activity: The International Antarctic Center. Somewhere between the winter storm simulator, the Hagglund ride and slide show of majestic pictures the idea popped in to my head that this place was pretty cool, literally and figuratively. These thoughts were kept in the back of my mind and resurfaced when I was studying in New Zealand signing up for classes at the University of Canterbury. The Antarctic Studies course seemed like a nice break from my demanding physics classes. By the time a full year had gone by of dragging my body out of class for the 8 am lectures I had made up my mind. I was going to go to Antarctica. The details of how I was going to get there seemed insignificant once I had set my mind to it. I checked out a couple different options, vetoing going down to shovel snow. I wanted something more. I wanted to make a contribution to the scientific world. The Graduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies seemed like the perfect fit for me. The University of Canterbury thought differently as I was rejected the first time around. After I picked up my crumbling world I reapplied and was accepted. Just goes to show you what a little perseverance can do. Now I’m headed to Antarctica for two weeks with a group of 15 other students from all over the globe. I’m more than excited and can not wait to share my adventures with you. I’ll be going to class 9-5 Monday through Friday learning about anything and everything related to Antarctica. Topics range from Tourism, biosecurity, photography, psychology, history, political science, biology, climate, astronomy, and much more. It gets really good when we have our 14 day field trip to the ice and live on the field, help with the seal census, visit historic huts, go cross country skiing and have the ultimate white Christmas experience. So come along with me and I’ll share it with you!