LUTZ, Fla. — It’s not all that often you see people utilize their hobbies into part of their career.
But not many people are like Mariben Andersen.
“They love pictures and I love taking pictures,” she said while showing Bay News 9 some of her pictures she recently took of animals in Jacksonville.
She knows her way around a camera, but that’s not her main job.
Her main job is observing the subjects of lots of her pictures.
“See the chicks! Do you see them?” Andersen said. “I didn’t think they hatched yet, I thought they were still eggs.”
Her life is spent around animals and the outdoors.
She’s an environmental lead for Michael Baker International, which does consulting on infrastructure projects along with environmental restoration.
It’s a fitting job for her because, growing up in the Philippines, she wanted to become a doctor but, after a medical setback, shifted gears and majored in biology with an expertise on how humans affect nature.
“We have to learn how to identify plants, bugs, birds, reptiles, amphibians, etc,” Andersen said.
And she’s been perfecting her craft for the last 40 years.
She came to the U.S. with her husband years ago with barely anything to call their own.
“My husband and I came with zero dollars,” she said.
But her drive and love for animals had her rising through many different ranks to where she’s in her current position and thriving.
To her, the hard work has paid off.
“I was raised to be like, 'I can do anything, I can be anything and I can be successful as long as I put my mind to it,'” Andersen said.
She’s been able to raise her kids under those same values and for the last five years has tried to do the same for younger generations that are a part of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, or NAAAP.
“We want this new generation to be assertive and to know their self-worth and to speak up,” Andersen said.
As the president of the local Tampa Bay chapter, that’s the message she tries to instill constantly.
For Mariben Andersen, it’s the reason she’s been able to get to a point where she gets to take pictures and work in a job she loves while also getting to enjoy other hobbies like collecting a variety of plants.
“I just started collecting calatheas,” she said. “They’re pretty cool plants, they’re different.”
And being different can help plants and people stand out.
Mariben says it’s that difference that she hopes will inspire every young Asian American she meets, that any goal they aspire to achieve is possible and she’s a prime example of that.
Along with being a leader at NAAAP, Andersen is the chair of Tampa’s Asian Festival this year, which takes place May 13th at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.
If you want to find out more about NAAAP, you can visit their group page on Facebook.
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