Sense of Self
Name: Dana Carrison-Stone, MS
Profession: Marine Biologist
Current and Previous Title (s): Scientist, Living Systems Lab Manager at Exploratorium, Research Biologist/Curatorial Assistant at California Academy of Sciences, Field Biologist, Horse Trainer, and Motorcycle Rider
I am stubborn, I always have been, a stubborn introvert. I like to do things my way but I love to see things from other perspectives and learn how living things ‘work’. I do not believe everything I’m told. I strive to understand the natural world around me from observation and curiosity. I’m telling you this because these characteristics are what have carried me through life, it helps to know yourself, and to accept that you’re both different and the same as all the other people around you. No one can change who you are or take who you are away from you. Remember that, it is a powerful and wonderful thing.
I am also smart and eager but not competitive. I despise being in the limelight and fail under pressure. I’ve just never believed it mattered that much to rank myself against others. This of course is bad for school, tests, and the systemized education path. But more important than that, I love learning and I always wanted to be a scientist.
High school was easy for me, I found it to be a joke, too easy, so I left in my Sophomore year - much to the dismay of all my teachers. They all told me I was making a huge mistake, one even said I’d be pregnant and unwed in 6 months, real nice teacher. What was hard was life, my family was a mess, mentally unstable parents, alcohol and drug addictions, unstable housing, unstable finances and no one around me was capable of helping me. It was literally a free for all - trauma and tragedy abound. So I dropped out at age 16 and moved away. I got a few random jobs, lived with a boyfriend, and eventually enrolled in community college. That was where I found my direction. I loved it but I wasn't great at it. I had mostly good grades but a few bad ones and a few withdrawals. I was young, had no money, worked part time, and was trying to do something no one else around me supported or understood but I knew it was the right thing to do. Stubborn.
Eventually I was able to transfer to the University of California (UC) system. It got harder, not easier. I was working as much as I could, taking care of my mother as much as I could, and trying to take care of myself as much as I could. I took out loans, applied for grants and scholarships, and worked 4 night shifts a week at a screaming busy college bar. Sleep was a thing of the past. The UC classes were huge, 400 students in some of them, there was no personalized learning. It was a sink or swim situation. I barely made it through my undergrad. I came so close to dropping out one quarter, I withdrew all classes, but made it back the next and final quarter. I remember feeling so jealous of the students whose parents were paying for everything. I’d run their bar tabs at night that they paid with their parents' credit cards. It felt so unfair. But I had something they didn’t, the knowledge and pride that I had done everything on my own. It wasn’t a great or perfect college experience but I came out of it with an enormous sense of self. No one was going to tell me what to do, how to do it, or that I couldn’t do it. I could and I did.
I really wanted to be a Marine Biologist which is a notoriously difficult career path. There’s barely any jobs, and the ones that exist are low paying and competitive. I began by volunteering at the California Academy of Sciences. I got lucky there, I caught a break. I met my mentor at the Cal Academy and he changed my life. I learned how important it is to try new things, to put yourself out there and not expect anything in return. My volunteership led to a master's degree, published manuscripts, field research experience in Africa and Alaska, naming two new species of barnacle, and a part-time grant funded job that lasted 10 years. Never ever did my high school drop-out self imagine that’s how my life would have gone. It was persistence not perfection that got me there. I never gave up and I never let what others thought of me change my internal compass.
Since working at the California Academy of Sciences, I’ve worked at the Desert Research Institute, Mills College, and The Exploratorium, which is my current employer. I love my job. I’m a biologist and I get to share my curiosity and passion with my co-workers and my community. One of the best parts of my job is mentoring interns and volunteers. So many of them come in unsure of themselves, ready to be judged, and trying to fit an expected norm. I think (and hope) they leave feeling able to talk about science and themselves in a way that’s free of pressure and full of curiosity, joy, and knowledge.
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