Love and Loss: Fashion vs. Biology by Pilar

Love and Loss: Fashion vs. Biology by Pilar - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

For seven years, my life was dedicated to retail. Not just any retailer- the holy grail of fashion forward urban living- Urban Outfitters. It lured in me in with its edgy clothes, current popular (and somehow) underground music and seemingly perfect contemporary lifestyle. I was hooked. I was a pre-business student at the University of Arizona fresh out of High School and I immediately switched my path to Retailing and Consumer Sciences. After I graduated, over time, I started to feel the passion I once had slip away. I didn’t feel the urge to aid a world that was based on superficiality. Something in myself had changed.

I failed retail. For months, my heart felt like it had sunk into the abyss. I had a job with no connection, and a path in front of me that I could not see. At first, I felt lost and afraid. I had a salaried job that came with health insurance and more importantly, security. I knew that if I were to change, I would have to leave the comfort of that refuge. For a long time, that blinded me of the fact that I was unhappy. I was missing a large part of myself. It took 2 years of hard work and determination before I came to my new path of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I took multiple career evaluations, sought out the advice from my closest family members and friends, read many articles on careers in all fields that peaked my interest from Art to Zoology. Until one day, I had my epiphany.

To this day, I credit my aunt Mimi for the jolt that I needed to start. She, lovingly, played the most intense devil’s advocate during a debate on why I would enter into such a different field. She forced me to face difficult questions about myself, and my top running degree choice of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. It was after that conversation that I realized my full passion for science and that it had been there since I was a kid watching NOVA with my Dad and taking trips to natural life museums and science-based camps. I was the biggest obstacle I had to overcome. I had to look deep within myself and find my motivation.
This planet we live on has so many mysteries left unsolved. So many questions that need to be answered. More importantly, our planet needs help. There are people, groups and corporations that don’t understand the fragility of our existence here. My passion for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has brought me out of the shell I was living in. I was merely working to make someone else money. Money that was just circled around and didn’t improve any of the outstanding issues we as a species face today. Now, I want to work for this planet. I strive to be a defender of nature and an explorer of the unknown. This degree will allow me to contribute positive change to the world through non-profit organizations like Society of Ethnobiology, or to educate and empower young women pursue a careers in science. I am unsure where exactly my path will take me, but I know that I will make a difference.