I was the typical 8-year-old boy who did not want to take piano lessons and quit eight weeks after I started them.

A few years ago I found myself in search of a new hobby.

When I was 2 years old, my mom read a book to me called The Doctor in the Zoo. That's when I decided to be a veterinarian, but not one who just sees dogs and cats.

In retrospect, I realize now that it all began when my grandmother gave me a mammoth's molar—my first fossil.