My mom studied geology, so I learned a lot about rocks growing up. But when I came to Miami, I thought I'd major in zoology. I took the beginning classes, and I liked them. Then one day a friend of mine, who is a geology major, saw my rock collection in my dorm room and said, "Jena, why are you not a geology major?" and I thought, "Good question," so I ended up switching to geology.

I've liked all of my geology classes. Two years ago, I took a class on minerology. I really loved it, and the professor asked me if I wanted to do research with him. I'm looking at the growth features on crystal faces of the mineral, apatite. I'm also in a graduate-level class with that professor called Mineral Surface Geochemistry.

I like the solid rock side of geology—the hard rocks. I think that has to do with growing up out west where there's a lot of volcanic rock. For my thematic sequence, I'm going to take mapping classes in the geography department, studying the kind of rocks you can see from the Earth's surface. I'd like to do geologic mapping as a career.

I'm excited about going to the Wind River Range in Wyoming for five weeks. All Geology majors go to Miami's field station there before they graduate. We look at rocks and go camping, and we'll get to see Yellowstone National Park. I also hope to get an internship this summer with the U.S. Geological Survey, which might eventually help me get a job or help me get into graduate school.

Even though I'm a member of the Miami Tribe, I knew very little about it before coming here. We learn the language and how the tribal government works. We also play lacrosse and go on canoe trips, so there are some fun social activities.

Last semester, I went abroad to New Zealand. It was such a great opportunity to live in another country. New Zealand is just so beautiful, and studying the geology there was so much fun. We had lots of adventures. We did a lot of hiking and went on some backpacking trips. I would definitely recommend studying abroad to other students.