Finding The Right Pace and Path

 Name: Lizabeth Bowen, PhD

Profession: Wildlife Ecologist, Eco-immunology, Eco-toxicology, Marine

Current and Previous Titles: Research Ecologist, Principal Investigator, Sea Lion Hugger,  Athlete, Mom

Well there was high school. I earned almost all As (1 B in band which was generous). I played three varsity sports and won the scholar athlete award at graduation. I had worked very hard to achieve this and put a ton of pressure on myself. My parents honestly never pressured me about anything really – it was all from within.

Then there was college. I went to UC Santa Cruz (when the mascot was still the sea lion – long time ago). I specifically chose Santa Cruz because they did not have grades (at that time). I was so burned out from high school that I just wanted to go somewhere where I could focus on learning, not achieving. My first two years were probably two of the most difficult years in my life. I took all of the required classes and did very well. I still felt so much pressure to take the hardest courses and be one of the top students. I focused on school and doing well on tests. I was not having much fun at all.

By the end of my sophomore year I told my parents I wanted to drop out. I hated school. I was still doing very well academically, but I found it all rather pointless. I didn’t know what I wanted to be “when I grew up” and wasn’t inspired by anything I was doing. After several long conversations in which I made it clear that I was serious about abandoning my college adventure, my Dad asked what it would take to keep me in school. After not too much thought I told my Dad I wanted to take only two classes per quarter so I could play more sports and learn how to have fun. So began the process of writing letters to the Dean to convince him this was a good plan. The Dean gave me two quarters with frequent check ins to try out my plan.

I began my junior year taking just two classes (and not the hardest classes I could find), while playing on the tennis team, the soccer team, and intramural basketball and softball. I made incredible friends. I need to clarify a bit here: I was not a star athlete. I was likely the worst player on the tennis and soccer teams, but I loved playing. I loved being part of a team. I loved being outside playing sports. I was still doing very well in my classes, but I was allowed to shift my focus from working incredibly hard at classes which held little interest for me, to doing what I loved. I made a conscious effort to become a “type B” person instead of a “type A” person. It was working. I was having fun! I started to take classes that sounded interesting, not just classes that I thought I should take. I distinctly remember the exact time when I really “got” what learning could be for me. I was taking a test in a class on circadian rhythms. I actually wasn’t that interested in circadian rhythms, but the professor was extremely engaging. I opened the test (on paper back then) and the first questions started with: “Design an experiment…”. At first I panicked. Design an experiment? I didn’t know how. There wasn’t one right answer I could give. I hadn’t studied for that. Then I got excited. Wow!!! Someone was asking for MY thoughts. I got to create something and THERE WAS NO RIGHT ANSWER. Clearly this made an impression on me if it still makes me smile over 30 years later. 

So college took me a year longer than most. By the end of my junior year I was having so much fun that I never wanted to leave. I decided to apply to physical therapy school so I could continue learning. Did I really want to be a physical therapist? No, but it seemed like something I should do. I really should have learned something more about life from my circadian rhythms class. Three weeks before PT school was to start I backed out. I was dreading it and it felt completely wrong. I moved back in with my parents and worked as an exercise physiologist at a gym, and then as a teller at a bank. It was OK. A few years later I was driving across the country. Somewhere in the middle of the country, early one morning, I was driving along watching the sun rise over miles of endless space and it came to me: I wanted to be an ecologist. I honestly didn’t know what that even meant, but I knew I needed to be outside in nature. I applied to grad school and didn’t get in. I tried again the next year and was waitlisted, but finally got a spot at UC Davis grad group in ecology. I had pretty much figured out how to have fun by then. I spent most weekends skiing, or backpacking, or rafting. I also worked, did research, and took classes. I was having the time of my life. My grades, well, my grades were ok sort of. I was told more than once that I was the first grad student to actually get a B instead of an A in some of the classes I took. I am still proud of that. If only those professors knew how hard I worked to become a B student and a really happy person.

To make a long story short, I got my masters, took another four years off school and went back for my Ph.D. I would consider myself very successful. I love my job. It fits me perfectly. I am a research ecologist. I study susceptibility and resilience in wildlife populations. I also have a husband and two teenagers. My life is really pretty balanced. I took my time, made lots of wrong turns, and ended up somewhere I didn’t even know enough to wish for. 

https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/lizabeth-bowen

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizabeth-bowen-9986044a/