New Chapters & Previous Review

Looking ahead:

My research with the bees has ended, as you know if you've read previous blog posts. Going back in time, several months before summer hit, I began applying for internships on the Eastern coast in marine related areas because I love marine life and I don't have many opportunities here to work with them. All of the programs I applied to encouraged students who didn't have the opportunity to interact with aquatic animals to apply.

Although I live in OK currently, I figured it was worth a shot, especially considering how great having a foot-in-the-door up there would be since I'll be moving up to Maryland/Washington DC area in June, 2019.

I realize I might sound like a kid with big dreams here, but with all the research I've already done, the years of speech practice, community service, leadership, teaching, etc... I thought I was rather well qualified for something that was going to teach you something new. My whole student life has been dedicated to reaching out to the strange places undergrads don't usually get to go... and dealing with the occasional rejection. I'm clearly eager to get my hands dirty and challenge my mind. The positions I applied for weren't jobs, just internships giving undergrad students the opportunity to travel and get their feet wet (pun intended) in the zoology/biology marine related field. While marine sciences fascinate me, I mostly wanted the experience, I don't think I'd want to pursue a career in marine studies, I'm a land-animal caretaker, behavior analyst, toxicology studying, kind-of-person.

Jobs are ridiculously difficult to get for people my age, so I wasn't particularly surprised when all eight universities and all 17 of their programs, 18 hours away from me said they didn't want to re-home me in their dorms to teach me for a summer... but I'm not going to lie, it discouraged me for way longer than I'd like to admit.

I've been pretty successful so far in my research career, thanks to a ton of people, but I have accomplished no where near what I want to.

This is my last semester at OSU. With fingers crossed, I'll be graduating in May. I was a TA last semester for freshman, but I haven't had any animals under my care for several months, and it's a bit strange... only taking care of myself.

If you could imagine me sitting pensively at a table, tapping a pencil thoughtfully with a twinge of determined frustration, that's my current mood because... tell you what I'd really love soon?

Zoo work. I don't care if I'm cleaning enclosures for several months before they ever let me interact with animals. I was born for this kind of work: working with and around animals... and I'm going to do it, even if I have to work two retail jobs to make money and just volunteer in a zoo for a while. I'm going to get my foot in a zoo's door and not let go.