When I was very young, maybe 3 years old, we lived in a house where a railway line ran behind it. This being Canada, there were only ever about 4 trains a day so it wasn't too much of a noise problem. I used to go outside and play on my swing set in the afternoons until my mum called me inside for dinner. I would always sit in my swing so that it was facing away from the house, so I could see the railway. Beyond the railway was a vast open field. If a train ever came past, I would get very excited and wave as the coaches whooshed past my backyard. I was very aware that although for me, this was a train going by my house, to the people on the train, I was just some girl on a swing that they'd never see again on their way to somewhere. I didn't know where they had come from, or where they were going, but they were on a journey, going on an adventure somewhere, and I got to see a small part of that. I told myself that one day, I'd be the one on an adventure, and maybe I'd pass someone's house that wasn't mine, very far from home and on my way somewhere exciting.

Fast forward a few years, and there's an eight year old version of me sitting on a sofa in a house just down the road from the last one, but I've been in this one so long I've almost forgotten the old one. I always loved nature and animals, and living in Canada there was plenty of wildlife for me to be fascinated with. At eight years old, my favourite TV show was called "Kratt's Kreatures", a show about animals hosted by two guys who are brothers, who are also both biologists, and their last name is Kratt (hence the title). I used to love this show, every episode they were somewhere different, looking at something new. But my favourite episode was when they went to the Great Barrier Reef. I remember being totally blown away by the coral reef, and how much there was to see. At that point, I made a promise to myself that one day I'd learn how to SCUBA dive, and go see a coral reef myself, and be a researcher in one of these places.

For years afterwards, my interest in the oceans grew and grew. I wanted to be a marine biologist. But as I got older, for whatever reason, it seemed like a silly thing to want to be. Something that I could want to be for as long as I wanted, but could never really achieve that. Not for lack of intelligence or determination, but for some reason being a marine biologist seemed so out of reach.

Jump to 2006, I'm 18 and applying for universities. I decided that it was now or never, I have the chance to do a degree in marine biology if I want. And just like that, I took the plunge.

Now I'm 21, on a Masters in Marine Biology, and my lecturers are saying they'd like me to do a PhD with them. When they describe the PhD openings to me, I suddenly realise that I have the chance to be what I always wanted to be. I have the opportunity to become a marine biologist. I've already accomplished so many of the things I wanted to, I had an adventure halfway around the world, I learned how to dive and got to see a beautiful, pristine coral reef. But here I have the chance to do all this as my career.

And how can I say no? Why put in YEARS worth of work and effort, to get so close and not follow through with it? How can I let down that eight year old kid, watching every single documentary about coral reefs possible, or sitting in her room reading some Encyclopaedia of Natural Life? How can I say no to my dream job?

Well, that's not a question I'll have to answer, because I'm not turning it down. I'm working myself to the bone on this Masters, and I'm going to apply for that PhD. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it for all those years I spent reading every single animal-related book I could find. For all those nature documentaries I ever watched. For every single dream I ever had about actually doing something good for this world. For all those younger versions of myself who were relying on my older self to fulfil these dreams for them.

For me.