Bo Roden
Midwest City, Oklahoma
"It took me years to understand that geology was all around me"
I'm originally from Midwest City, Oklahoma and I am a child of two Air Force retirees and the brother of one sister. I want to reach out to the military dependents who have been forced to constantly move away from friends and family and help them enjoy and understand the environment around them as that is the only thing that is a constant. Living in a large array of environments, not only literal but social, can be a hard sphere to navigate. I took geology for granted most of my life because it wasn't talked about much in the military schools I was in for most of my life. When I was finally introduced to geosciences, it really showed me that I was never as separate as I thought I was. It made me realize that the comfort of familiarity and understanding was the very ground I stood on throughout all those years of relentless moving across the USA. Now that I've found my comfort, it has allowed me to take route among amazing people, and I look back fondly at the environments I grew up in!
My Pathway
I started in the great swamp state that is Oklahoma and ever since then, I was constantly moving due to being a part of a military family. Being shuffled around between states, including Oklahoma, California, and Colorado. In California where this picture on the right came from I experienced growing up in an isolated desert with no friends and thought I was living in a wasteland. When I moved to Colorado I was surrounded by geology, but it took a class to truly understand that. During high school, I took a geology course as part of an early college program and it was there where I truly understood the prevalence of geology throughout my life. That is how I got where I am now, and I have enjoyed my time here at UT! I'm currently working with the Martindale lab, which specializes in underwater flora and fauna, and with more research work in the future. Working with peers here at UT has been the best part, and working hands-on with over 1600 marine fossils is huge. I never thought I would reach this point all those years ago while living on a military base in the middle of nowhere.
An Oasis of California in the vast desert with my grandparents taking a nice vacation from the scorching plains of the Mojave Desert!
Geology is everywhere!
Geology is home, a comforting certainty in a time of ever changing environments and that is truly the power of the Earth!
Lessons
Consider:
The way you grew up doesn't define you whether that be growing up as a military dependent or not, you make your own path for you, not anyone else.
If something is out of your control the best thing you can do for yourself and others is to reflect on how you can grow.