In a workplace setting where multiple personalities and ideologies are bound to exist, learning to cohabitate and accomplish the group goal is an essential skill that every employer would love to hear an experience about. I would say the ability to set aside personal goals for the purpose of contributing, at the very least, to a greater good is one of the major themes of this experience. However, I’ve deepened many other skills as well like formulating hypotheses, letting go of old formulations, and the importance of collecting and using data to support said hypotheses. Part of the interesting role I played on this trip had to do with my lack of knowledge on the history focused on. Since I didn’t have a strong background on Hellenistic walls or late Roman housing, it was easier for me to suggest, reject, and reform different theories. At the same time, I had to cope with the fact that I wasn’t in a position to make a claim that wasn’t supported by previous research done in the field. At the end of this week I felt like my ability to change the story alongside the evidence being revealed developed into a nice balance.
Other experiences that would turn me into a better candidate for a future career in veterinary medicine are the opportunities I had to work with bones. In my time working in the field, there were finds that I was able to identify and label in the lab. As time went on, there were also opportunities to shadow the on-site bio-archeologists which led to me finding out that evidence of bones in an area are like an iceberg of information about the area. While I was sure I wanted to do study small animals, learning about the ruminants made me realize that I am more open to other avenues of study than I previously had thought.
