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Connections to the Ocean, Connecticut

As told by Emily Duran
Nahant, Massachusetts

Story Narrative:

Submitted by Emily to the Women Mind the Water digital stories project, in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street storytelling website and traveling exhibition "Water/Ways."

This story was recorded at Northeastern University Marine Science Center in Massachusetts.

"So, I grew up in Connecticut kind of near the water. The ocean was always a really big part of my life. My favorite part of growing up was getting to visit the beach and spending time there with my family. I didn’t really think about it as a career really until I was an undergrad at Villanova and I was interested in biology and kind of wanted to see what was out there. I was looking at programs that were available and came across this program at Bonaire which is a tiny island in the Dutch Caribbean. It looked like a really cool program, so I thought I would try it out. So, I got scuba certified. My first dive there I was kind of just hooked.

I knew exactly that that is what I wanted to do. I was amazed at everything you could see underwater and continuously wanted to learn more. It was a really great program because instead of learning in the classroom we went out on to the reef and got to look at what we were studying. So that is kind of where I built my passion and throughout my experience. I realized I liked talking to people about their own connections to the oceans. Getting people to realize that even if they are just visiting the beach, all the marine life around them and things like that as well.

And, so I started out more as a research background and then through my experience with the Three Seas Program here at Northeastern. I kind of came across our outreach program and connecting with others and sharing research with kids. So, that is something I really enjoy. Getting to, kind of, give those same experiences that had such a big impact on my life with the next generation of sciences as well."

Asset ID: 8070

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