I think a lot of what excites me about this trip is summed up in the name: Tropical Field Biology. Firstly, I am super excited about being out in the field, experiencing the tropics. Having read some of the past blogs and learning a bit about what the rainforest and coral reefs from our readings, I know that this is an unbelievable. opportunity to see and experience these incredible areas. However, what makes this even more exciting is that we will be seeing these places through a lense of Biology. Rather than just passively admiring  the rainforest and reefs as sightseers, we will get to study these areas and understand more of how they function. I hope that making meaning of what we are seeing through our understanding of biology will make our experience of these areas even more interesting and exciting!

That being said, I also realize that I shouldn’t expect this trip to be a ride on a merry-go-round. I don’t have much experience in the tropics, but I expect I will have to face a fair amount of physical discomfort, be it the bug bites, the heat, etc, and I also realize that this trip will entail a lot of hard work. However, I am hopeful that those challenges will be part of what makes this trip rewarding and meaningful. I think many times having to embrace and work through those things are what make memories all the more memorable!

But at the end of the day, I find that even in the process of writing this I am realizing that I don’t actually have a very good idea of what I should be expecting at all. But whatever comes, I hope that I learn lots, ride with the punches, and come away feeling like I made the most of it!

See you in Belize!