Becoming an expert at age 11- my fish story
For as long as i can remember i loved animals. My dreams as a child constantly shifted from owning a dog to a cat, then to birds, snakes, lizards, and finally fish. The last option was also the only logical possibility, as we lived in a the smallest apartment in the neighborhood. We didn’t buy our first aquarium. Instead, we found a glass box, cleaned it and turned it into a DIY aquatic kingdom.
I always believed that caring for another living being truly changes you and should be a strong personality trait in every consultant. The responsibility i felt for my new little fish drove me to learn all i could about them. I was committed to providing them with the best conditions and ensuring that their lives are the best a fish can possibly have. Their lives were in my hand as i was their guardian, the strange giant who brings food every evening and changes the water every second day.
As the days passed, i accumulated more and more knowledge about fish. You will be surprised how much information is available about water chemistry, each fish’s natural habitat, food types, diseases and treatments and more. My eagerness to give my fish the best conditions pushed me to read more and i begun translating documents and articles from English to Hebrew. I was active online in forums dedicated to pets and fish in particular and very fast became the administrator of several forums. Even at the fish store i was consulted at times and engaged in long conversations with experts who spent years with these beautiful aquatic creatures.
When reflecting about this memory, i can clearly say i was regarded as an expert. I was 11 or 12 years old but i had the knowledge and more importantly, i knew how to apply it in an effective way. This knowledge gave me the confidence to give advice to others and share my experience with those who need it. I learned that age didn’t matter, it’s all about our value to others. I also learned to appreciate knowledge, seek it and utilize it for the sake of others. Only as i matured i realized that knowledge in itself is not enough, but that’s for another article.
If you wondered what happened to my fish, i’m happy to say that they continued to live on for several generations, happy and healthy. I ended up having three aquariums in that tiny apartment. Eventually we had to move to a bigger city and fish were no longer a part of my life until 10 years later. The passion was revived, however, not long ago here in Vienna. While i have new, beautiful fish, the knowledge is still there to ensure that their lives are the best a fish can possible have.