Botany is the science of plants. To become a botanist a student must first have an intense desire to learn more about the fascinating world of plants. And when in school a potential botanist will need to take all the botany related courses available. Most likely they will have wanted to learn all there is to know about plants from an early age.
At that young age, their infinite curiosity titillated to such a degree that they were obsessed with the shape of the leaves on trees, about the different types of violets they encountered each spring, their joy was forever remembered. Ever after, their fascination will increase and will be carried over into their school studies.
Their first preparation to a lifetime career of becoming a botanist began with this fascination with every thing green and with everything growing. Learning the names and being able to identify the edible plants and distinguishing them from the poisonous ones and learning the secrets of the soil came next. No sooner had they mastered one area of this learning process than another one arose. One thing led to another. Reading and learning about the botany became a favorite pastime.
In high school, you took all the science classes that was offered and soon was thought to be an expert on plants. During your summer vacations you had no trouble finding a summer job; you worked at the local nursery and Saturdays during the school year you volunteered as a plant guide at the local community flower garden.
By graduation time, their mind was made up. they wanted to be a botanist. Their local university was not the most ideal place to learn about their favorite subject but it was the most affordable. With the scholarship for their good grades they qualified for, and the fact they could live at home, they sailed through college. And all the while still working at the local nursery. They wanted to take this new graduate on as a full time worker. Maybe, or maybe not, a full fledged botanist will settle down and cater to the home crowd, or they could opt for further study, and farther, more distant, green fields.
The possibilities are endless, a botanist knows, and while they cannot sample all of them, the problem they as they graduate with a major in botany, is in what field to specialize. First they will want a job and from there many will go after a doctorate. Believing, as they do, it is important to select the particular field of endeavor first and then add to their store of botanical knowledge, be it plant genetics, conservation, mycology, the study of fungi, or will the classification of plants and their relationships to each beckon them onward. Or, possibly, even specialize in some far flung field. at first, unable to choose, they must know what is available. It would not be good business to waste all their time specializing in some field that had no job openings.
A hopeful botanist will go online and check out some of the amazing possibilities available to botanist and will write several inquires to the sources that interest them. An example, there is an Australian on-line site that is fascinating, and although the plant life there is different from the plant life her in the US due to soil and weather conditions, they will learn there are a great many similarities.
While having settled into any specific field of botany, a qualified scientist will find that searching for that perfect job is almost like a dream come true. At least they will think that as they send out resumes to various places and gather information about where best to ply their trade. At this point, just to be sure they are on the right track, they talk to as many professionals as will talk to them about how best to continue.
If still undecided by the time they graduate, they can always take that offer they received a few days ago about starting a herbatorium at their nearby medical school. There they will be learning all they can about the plant sources of medicine. That seems ever more interesting as thy pass up other less interesting propositions such as working with soil erosion companies, or managing a Christmas tree lot.
Source:
http://www.botany.org/bsa/careers/car-why.html
