gsarchie - Its great to meet some like-minded people! I always knew I wanted to be a field biologist, and was able to pick a degree that would put me in the field, and pick the right classes too. At least in the local schools, it seems field classes are becoming more and more uncommon though. There were a few classes I wanted to take while I was in school, but they discontinued those classes before I had the necessary prerequisites. And thank you for service! My husband just got out of the active Army, a while back he served a year in Iraq. He's now in the national guard.