My background
There was a time when I hadn't really thought about aquatics. I was 16, finished school and the only encounter I'd had with fish was in my little garden pond and on fishing trips to the local lakes. I was stuck with where to go with my education when I stumbled across a course at my local college in Fish Husbandry.
I always found school difficult because I had no real passion for the subjects. Fish Husbandry sounded interesting compared to the subjects at school and this led to me doing a two year course which I really enjoyed. From day one my attitude changed completely; I enjoyed the course and really got into it. There were 2 sides to it; the fishery side (fish farming, netting lakes etc) and the aquatics side. I started out with my interest more heavily invested in the fishery side but after a year at the college, I found myself switching to aquatics.
To cut a long story short, after college I had a year out to work full time in a pet and aquatic shop while maintaining a number of tropical aquariums and eventually a reef tank at home. Unfortunately they had to be sold when I decided to go to university.
University for me wasn't as successful as it could have been. A number of reasons meant I had to leave without a degree which was disappointing, but ultimately was the best choice I could have made.
I moved back home and looked for work but found that fairly fruitless. Whether the break in employment went against me or there just weren't the jobs, I'll never know. In August of last year I decided to move in with my girlfriend who lived over 100 miles away. I think at the time I needed a fresh start and a long distance relationship was tough as well. It's been hard being apart from my family and friends but it was the best decision for me at the time.
After being down here 2 months, I found a job in aquatics and I'm still there now. After a 3 year break from employment I was pleased to see how quickly I settled back into the aquatics industry. Long term I'm not sure what my career goals are, but I'm earning money doing what I enjoy while I figure it out.
That's enough of an essay for now! My main reason for giving you my background was because I wanted readers to know my history. In comparison to some people in the field I may not be an expert, but I more than make up for that with my passion for the hobby and at just 24 I've got years to gain more experience and knowledge. I'm also hoping feedback from the blog will teach me new things as well.
Plan for this blog
Examples of what I will be writing about are:
- Profiles for interesting fish species
- Write ups for different tropical biotopes and marine biotopes
- Articles about the aquatic world
- Lastly if there is something you would like to know about get in touch! I'll either be able to give you the information personally, or turn it into a blog for everyone to read.
Good first blog. :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could do a series of blogs on how to set up a basic marine tank for those of us that aren't very good at the technical side of things?