The trip to antarctica will be a jolt of adrenaline to my life. Not because my life is dull and boring, quite the contrary, I am fortunate to enjoy a fulfilling life with interesting challenges, but because an Antarctic trip is extremely exciting!
People ask me how did I managed to land two trips to Antarctica. "Luck and hard work" I reply. No doubt luck has played a role on my Antarctic experiences, as it always does, but achieving our goals has more to do with our persistence than randomness.
The path that led me to my first Antarctic trip was not as easy as some people think. I recently came across the song "Anything is possible", written and performed by Jen Hannah, which reminded me of the whole selection process for that Antarctic expedition. The song probably does not say anything you have not heard before, but it says it beautifully. For my first Antarctic experience, I applied once and did not get to go. I reflected on my first attempt, used what I had learned, and applied a second time. No one chose me after interviewing for two projects, but since I really wanted to be part of one of the expeditions, I kept going until I became a member of an Antarctic research team. Pure persistence.
You might think this all sounds nice, but that at the end these type of opportunities always come to other people. Think twice: If you would like to travel the world and learn about science while blogging and creating videos like we will do on this project, look around, you will find plenty of opportunities. I leave a couple of examples of opportunities for U.S. citizens that you could pursue: if you are a high school students, check the Joint Science Education Project, which takes five high school students from the United States to work in Greenland with students from Denmark and Greenland. If you are an adult, check the National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship, that would allow you to travel up to three countries in one year as you create stories around science with blogs, videos and more. If this is what you really want to do, you will make it happen. Just remember to be believe in yourself and be persist. Anything is possible.