The summer before her eighth grade year, senior Lily Walker attended a week-long program at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. It seemed like nothing more than a fun trip with friends, but this past summer she returned to the sea lab for more. This time, Walker participated in a month-long program and discovered a true passion for marine biology.

“I definitely have a clear vision of what I want to do, what is important to me, and how to get there,” said Walker.

Because the program was a high school course, it exposed her to marine science through lectures and labs. Topics ranged from chemistry, oceanography and ichthyology to detailed studies of marine plants, plankton, mammals, birds, and invertebrates. Walker had the opportunity to dissect a shark, and she set trawl nets to collect species data. Students went behind the scenes of the aquarium in New Orleans, snorkeled in Panama City Beach, and visited a marine mammal center on the Mississippi coast.

At the marine mammal center, Walker went into an operating room that held a hurt Kemps Ridley turtle. That was when she realized working with marine animals was what she truly wanted to do with her life.

Walker was somewhat scared going into the trip because she didn’t know anyone there. Yet the month proved to be one of independence and self-discovery.

“I had no one there babying me and no one who had a previous opinion of me. [I could] go there and be myself,” said Walker.

She recalled having to set aside time on her own for studying and a long-term research project, and she compared it to being an adult or a college student for a month. Other than a schedule dictating specific times for class and a weekly boat trip, Walker was left to allocate her free time to her personal priorities.

She learned not only discipline and responsibility, but also that the little things count. “Something as simple as wearing shoes when you go into the water [matters],” Walker said, referring to when she was stung on the foot by a stingray. Walker has carried the lesson she learned from failing her first test into both her schoolwork and her personal life. She now studies more often than just the night before an exam. She cleans her room every day rather than letting the tasks build up over time.

Looking toward the future, Walker has been accepted to the Honors College at the University of Alabama, and she will be double-majoring in biology and marine sciences.

“I can see myself teaching marine biology. That would be my dream job, [to] open a place for research [where] kids can learn about the ocean [and] why it’s important.”