{"id":502,"date":"2025-08-29T13:14:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T21:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/?p=502"},"modified":"2025-08-29T13:21:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T21:21:53","slug":"from-wallabies-to-yeast-dna-ambers-careervillage-org-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/from-wallabies-to-yeast-dna-ambers-careervillage-org-story\/","title":{"rendered":"From Wallabies to Yeast DNA: Amber\u2019s CareerVillage.org story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amber has always been fascinated by animals. Especially the unusual ones. When she was six, a zookeeper brought a wallaby to her local library. That moment stuck with her, sparking a lifelong interest in biology. Years later, as a freshman at the University of Maine, she found herself still captivated by creatures like the peacock mantis shrimp but unsure how to turn that passion into a career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming from a family without a science background, Amber often felt like she was navigating her path alone. Her university brought in guest speakers, but there was rarely time to ask deeper questions about conservation, daily work in the field, or which skills really mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking for guidance, Amber turned to CareerVillage.org<\/strong><\/a>\u2014a community where professionals answer students\u2019 real questions about careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Amber appreciated how professionals on CareerVillage.org were willing to answer the ‘little’ questions.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Asking big questions, finding real advice<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Amber\u2019s first question to the community was simple but important: \u201cWhat skills should I develop to work with animals and conservation programs?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answers she received went beyond the general tips she\u2019d heard before. Professionals encouraged her to build real-world experiences\u2014like travel\u2014and to strengthen her public speaking skills, explaining that being able to communicate science clearly was just as essential as research experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt made me realize public speaking wasn\u2019t just a side skill, it\u2019s central,\u201d Amber reflected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From advice to action<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Taking the advice to heart, Amber looked for opportunities to practice. In her molecular biology class, she presented research on yeast DNA to an audience of 75 classmates. The idea of speaking in front of so many people was daunting, but she pushed through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was pretty rewarding. I was able to get my message across\u2026I\u2019m happy with how I executed it,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber earned an A on the project, but more importantly, she gained confidence and a clearer vision of how her passion for animals and her skills could fit together in her future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A community that builds confidence<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CareerVillage didn\u2019t just answer Amber\u2019s question. It gave her a community to lean on, a place where \u201clittle\u201d questions felt welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a community of people just really helps better understand what you want to do, what you need to do to get there, and how to ask it,\u201d Amber explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words for other learners<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Amber now shares her own advice for students who may feel unsure where to start:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to ask\u2026 it\u2019s not too little to ask, and it\u2019s very important. Every little detail counts, because when you\u2019re working towards your future, that\u2019s how you will find yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking for specific career guidance, Amber turned to CareerVillage.org\u2014a community where professionals answer students\u2019 real questions about careers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-student-perspective","category-uncategorized","tag-careervillage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":507,"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions\/507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.careervillage.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}