MY
INTERNSHIP
EXPERIENCE AT LIONS TIGERS & BEARS
The keepers there genuinely love what they do, regardless of the pay. I truly appreciate how passionate they are about the work they are doing and how it no longer seems like work to them, but something they truly enjoy doing. They never put off the work or say that they can do it later, they put the animals' needs before them (even if it means digging through bins full of raw meats and meat juice/blood) and that is something incredible. I truly appreciate all the staff and the volunteers at LTB because without them this sanctuary wouldn't have come to be, I know this sounds really cheesy but it's true. They all contribute a lot to this organization and work really hard, some even stay past their working hours knowing that they don't have to. Everyone there is just amazing and kind, whenever someone needs help others will go help immediately and not complain. If someone makes a mistake, the others don't get mad and will help each other out..well, depending on how big the mistake was and how that mistake might affect everyone.
Passion, patience, optimism, and many other qualities and characteristics. Most of the workers, keepers, and volunteers are so optimistic; even if it's something they don't like to do or something goes wrong, they look at the bright side of it and always expect the best of it. They never really complain about their work and always do it, never putting it off because it will benefit the animals. They are also very passionate about their work, and that is something I really want to have; passion. Sure, I like to do a lot of things, but I have never really been passionate about anything. However, you can see how much they love working with the animals; they put so much effort into their work and invest a lot of time in order to take care of the animals. 3. How did your view of life beyond high school change or develop during your time as an intern? I'm not sure... I'm not sure if my view of life beyond high school changed or developed during this time as an intern. However, I do know that this internship has certainly opened my mind to the possibility of working with animals as a career I think that communication and collaboration played a huge roll. Since there were three other interns working here, we all worked together and had to communicate with each other a lot. We always split the work into two, that way two of us could be working on one thing while the other two worked on the other which helped us get the work done faster. When making the bear food, we really helped each other out by splitting the work and helping each other, and communicating. How exactly is communication needed when making bear food? While two of us were cutting the vegetables, one was splitting all the food evenly onto the trays, and the other weighing the food and marking how many pounds each was, we all had to communicate with each other to see how much fruit and vegetables were still needed, what we needed to get from the walk in fridge and how much, and which trays need more of what. A lot of the keepers are really busy taking care of the exotic animals, so the other interns and I have been helping them as much as we can. Because we can't help with the exotic animals, we've been helping with the domestic animals, because of this, they don't have to worry about not being able to feed them or cleaning their enclosures. We also help by preparing food for all of the animals, creating enrichment for the exotics, opening the bathrooms in morning + cleaning and closing them in the afternoon, washing and drying dishes, and washing + drying and folding towels. I've also helped at the office by sorting and organizing papers, folding and putting papers on envelopes, writing the address and putting stamps on the envelopes, writing information on the membership cards, etc.
During the course of this internship I learned many things. Just as I previously mentioned (on the blog post before this one) I learned to communicate better and was able get over my stage fright. I feel more confident that I will be able to present my work in front of the class and to do better during POLs. Because I've had to go on the guided visits and sit at the waiver table, I've had to answer a lot of questions and explain more about LTB which has helped me work on my communication and participation skills, so I believe that this will help me participate more in class and communicate my ideas with other students during projects. Also, during enrichment we could only use certain things when building the items for the animals. We couldn't use glue, tape, anything with plastic, etc. because it could harm the animals and most of the materials we had were cardboard so we had to think outside the box when creating an enrichment and we had to be more creative when thinking of what we should make. I think that this will come in handy when we have to do a project or when we are in need of materials. Not only will all of these things help me in school, but it will also help me outside of school. The communication and participation skills will come in handy when going to college or applying for a job since you need to be able to communicate with the teachers, students, and colleagues. And well, creativity can be needed at anytime. At first I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I couldn't really come up with a single idea besides a video, but even then I didn't know what the video could be about. So I decided to go with the only thing I had in mind—a video. Since I'm not very good with media I asked Mandalyn if she wanted to work with me and so we teamed up. However, we still weren't sure what we wanted our video to be about, but it wasn't until the end of the second week of internship that we finally decided to do our video on the behind the scenes. But we couldn't start it until the middle of the third week since Veronica (our new mentor) wanted to approve our idea and wanted an outline of the project. Well, my project isn't exactly going well. While the whole idea was semi-set, we still need more footage, and I don't think our project is going to get done. To be honest, I procrastinated a lot. I kept putting the work aside thinking we still had time and we'd get it done, and I'd be lying if I said otherwise. However, because I knew that this was probably going to happen, I worked on a series of other small projects. I worked on three enrichments, making a robot and giraffe out of cardboard (although the giraffe looked like a llama so we turned it into one) and a ball made from paper mache. I also set up and took pictures of the gift shop's merchandise for the website they created with Mandalyn. I've also done more things, but I will write them when I remember them (I have a terrible memory..) I've learned that I should not procrastinate as much. I know, I know, everyone says that and I say that a lot too, but after this I realized how much I really need to start working on things at the beginning. I've also learned how much I suck at paper mache... I was horrible at it! It took me such a long time and I messed up like more than five times, I mean, you'd think I'd learn after the first mistake. I've also learned to be a bit more patient. I'm a very impatient person, but after having to paper mache, I learned that it's better to be patient because if you aren't you will mess up your work.. more than 5 times. So I know that seeing the questions just copied and pasted here is lame and pretty much what everyone else is doing and makes you not want to read the answers, but I'm not good with transitions and all that junk...so yeah. Also, I didn't know how to start the answer to the first question without posting the question.
1) What other elements from your internship experience can teachers LOGICALLY replicate in our classrooms? And give applicable ideas that teachers can do. I know that the teachers expect a good answer for this question or even just an answer, but I honestly don't have an answer for this question. I don't really know what elements from my internship experience teachers can replicate in their classroom (besides illogical ones) and don't have any ideas that teachers can do (well I don't have any applicable ones). Since I am working with both domestic and wild animals and we don't do everything everyday at the same time (do different things every day) it is really hard to come up with something. I check the blog post questions in the morning, so I've been thinking about this question ever since, but I wasn't able to come up with anything! Do you know how frustrating that is?! I will keep thinking about it and see if I can come up with anything. Sorry. 2) What new skills and/or perspective are you going to bring into your student practice to improve your academic performance? Those of you who know me or have met me know how shy and quiet I am (well at least that's what people tell me). There are many reasons to this, but one of the reasons I'm quiet is because I hate talking. Okay, "hate" is too strong of a word, it's more like I dislike talking. Well... I like talking but I don't, you know? probably not. It's more like, I don't like talking but if everything I thought/wanted to say was spoken for me then that would be amazing! It's not that I'm lazy, it's because I really don't like talking... It's like I want to say something but I end up saying something completely different and then I get angry and it irritates me which leads to saying things wrong and it annoys + irritates me even more and so on. Anyways, I also don't like being near a lot of people or asking questions or being asked and answering questions or present to people...I pretty much don't like to socialize + interact with people and am terrible at communicating/communication skills. Well you get the point. But after spending almost a month here, I actually feel more comfortable around people and asking + answering questions. I am even starting to enjoy presenting to people and talking to them (there is a lot more I have learned here but these are the ones that I had the most trouble with). Also, hanging around so many nice and positive people has started to rub off on me (that is such a weird saying), I've been noticing how I have become a nicer and a bit more positive. So these are definitely skills I want to and will try to bring in to improve my academic performance. Hello and welcome back to......my internship blog!! For today's blog post I will be saying whose blog I read + commented on. Drum roll please. (*drum roll sound*) Miriam Hernandez Gomez's, Alicia Duke's, and Savannah Arroyo's blog!!!! You might be wondering which blog post I commented on. Sorry, but I will not say which one, it's more fun like that. Back to their blogs. They all seem to be having a great time and seem to be learning a lot, all of it ranging from no longer have to sing the ABC's in order to figure out which letter comes next, to learning more about media production, and this is something that they are proud of. From their posts I learned that I should be proud of any accomplishments I've made and look at things in a positive way. I've also learned that time management and organization is VERY important (although I already knew this, this is still something I need to work on).
Internship is very different from school and not at all what I expected. At school, you're inside a classroom for most of the time, you have to do a lot of writing + taking notes on topics you might not be interested in, and you also have to do a project of the teacher's choosing (which is not fun sometimes). But in internship, I get to work outside for most of the time and with animals! Because of that, I don't do a lot of writing (besides the blog posts) and don't really need to take notes. Plus, I get to create my own project which is really cool because it means that I'll be working on something I like.
The school week is much different than these work weeks at LTB. For example, when I would get to school, I would go in the class take my seat and listen to the lesson. Then we would do some writing which was most likely a worksheet where you have to explain some questions or work on a new project that would be more writing than hands on work, and then we would go to the next class in which we would do similar things. Don't get me wrong I have a lot of fun in most of my classes, I just don't think that the worksheets, homework, and some projects are fun. But here at LTB, I get to do a lot more hands on work. Some of it which includes, feeding the domestic animals and preparing the exotic animals' food. I also get to go on the guided visits, and get to see + hear the lions and tigers everyday. I also do some other not so fun work like washing dishes and cleaning the animals' waste. Also, responsibilities here are different from those of school. We have to be here Tuesday through Saturday from 8 to 4 but we get to leave earlier depending on time we finish with everything, and our responsibilities change depending on the day. I've always loved working with animals, but it wasn't something I actually thought of doing in the future. However, working here and getting the experience of working in a different environment made me think that this is definitely something I would like to do as a career. What can you bring from internship to who you are in school? That's a good question. I've learned so much at LTB and have become more comfortable in asking questions, talking to people, and participating more in the discussions and conversations, so that is something I'll definitely bring to school...well, I'll try. It's easier said than done. Since Erin will be out a lot and won't be able to check on us, our new mentor is Veronica Cruz. Because of the change of our new mentor, today we discussed more about our project and created an outline. For this project Mandalyn (one of the interns) and I will be working on this project together since we both wanted to create a video. Our video will be kind of like a behind the scenes at LTB. For example, we will be showing what the animals eat, how we make the food, what the workers and volunteers do, what it means to be a sanctuary, what the daily routine, enrichment and the animal's nutrition is, etc. We will also be adding how much the animals eat, how the animals get moved when they move the animals to a different enclosure, and what the domestic animals are for. We will start taking more pictures tomorrow, get some footage of the place, and record how they make the bear food tomorrow (that's when we will be making more bear food).
*However, just in case it doesn't work, we will also be doing a series of smaller projects* Here are some more pictures: Everyday, my day begins at 6 in the morning when I wake up. I leave the house around 7 to be able to get there five minutes before work starts, which starts at 8:00 and ends at 4:00 (or depending on the time my mom gets there which usually is around 5), Tuesday through Saturday. The struggle is real. Anyways, as soon as I get there I walk over to where the two offices and feeding room (room where we prepare the animal's food) is located and sign in. Then the other interns and I go with Fernando (everyday besides Tuesday since it's the day he and two others go to get the food donated by Walmart) to prepare the food and give it to the domestic animals, as well as clean their space. Afterwards, we go to Erin to see what we can do while waiting for the guided visits to begin. She usually has us do some office work or work, more enrichments, or prepare the exotic animals food. Sometimes there's nothing that needs to get done at the moment so she just has us set up the table where the people will fill up a waiver, buy tickets to feed the animals, buy raffle tickets, donate food, etc. and then gives us the rest of the time to wander around.
Getting there for the first time is hard (it is most likely that you will get lost the first time). The offices is located towards the back, so in order to get there you go past the freezers, the lawn area (used for events), the rescue trailer, the medical/surgery room, White Oak (retreat), some animal enclosures, the gift shop, the feeding room and utility room. Sadly there are only two office rooms. It's always so quiet and peaceful over there, the only sounds are of the animals. It's mostly Bakari (the male lion) and Soho (the blue and gold Macaw) who is always saying 'hello' over and over again. It's Friday, but I guess you could say that my Friday is tomorrow since I work on Saturday and get Monday off. It was a good day today even though it started off with my mom and I getting lost on the way there...again. Since Erin wasn't there today, Fernando, one of the workers, took her place while she was out. He showed us how to make the food, give vitamins, and feed the 3 horses, Beluga the pig, miniature horse, and Jack the donkey (I'm really bad with names, these are the names I've memorized so far). He also showed us where everything was stored and placed and taught us how to clean their space as well as the bathrooms. When we were done with all of that, we ate lunch together and then went back to finish our cardboard and paper mache giraffe. We still weren't able to finish it although we did get done most of it and we're hoping to start attaching the parts tomorrow. I thought it wouldn't take as much time, but making a human size giraffe is time consuming, even with four people working on it. Our giraffe looks more like a llama, but it's been a lot of fun working on it with the others. I have learned a lot during these first three days, I've learned about the animal’s nutrition like what they eat, how many pounds and how many times they eat a day, what medicine and vitamins they take and how to give it to them, and much more. I've also learned about their stories and where they come from, and I've gotten to see how much the people here care for the animals. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and hope to be able to get to know the animals and the workers as well as the other volunteers better during this time.
Today was the second day of internship. The weather has been a problem during these two days. I mean don't get me wrong, I LOVE cold and rainy days, but... Not when I'm doing an internship outside. In Alpine. It's been really cold, muddy, rainy, and foggy. The road was even covered in ice today and there was snow! Since it's been raining pretty hard, Erin (our mentor) changed our schedule a bit, so instead of starting at 8 and leaving at 4 we leave at 1:00, and because of the weather, we haven't been able to do much. On the first day we prepared food for the bears. 10 bears in total, 3 of the bears have to eat 25 lbs while the other 7 only eat 10 lbs of food. You might be wondering: Hmm. What do these bears eat? Good question! Well, they like to eat fruit, fish, nuts, berries, and only 2 of the 10 bears like vegetables. But for some odd reason all of them like corn. Did you know that these bears like dog food? That's where they get their protein from. However, we had to give them more fish then usual since they ran out of dog food. We spent 4 hours cutting fruit and vegetables in half, getting and putting away the food, and washing and cleaning our space afterwards.
Today we did an activity called Animal Enrichment. Enrichment is the process of providing stimulating surroundings as well as mentally and physically enriching activities for the animals through interaction, sight, smell, taste, and touch to enhance their well-being. For example, the workers at LTB will do an enrichment once a week. They will sometimes spray different perfumes and smells around the animal's space. For this activity, we built a giraffe out of cardboard and paper mache. We weren't able to finish, so we will continue that tomorrow, but when we are done, we will fill it with meat and put it in either the tiger's or the lion's space for them to enjoy (of course this will be done on a day when it isn't raining). Afterwards, when it got too cold and started to rain again, we went into the office and did some office work like organize papers, fold and put letters in envelopes, etc. Since we haven't done much, I don't have any skill sets that I need to work on yet, but I'm sure that I will later on. Likes and/or dislikes? Well, I really liked making the food, and I love hearing the lions and the tigers. I don't dislike anything besides the lack of chairs and the cold weather that makes my hands numb which kind of makes it hard to work. Well, tomorrow is the first day of internship. What am I most excited about and at the same time, what am I most nervous about? Hmm... I am just really excited to work near exotic animals especially the tigers (I LOVE tigers), and it's just an amazing organization that help exotic animals which is what I really like about it. However, I'm really nervous about how it will turn out. What if this internship isn't what I expected? I really don't want to fail and I don't want my project to suck. I hope it turns out to be an amazing experience.
Today, December 2nd, was my internship site visit that went from 10:15 am to 12:35 pm. We got a tour around the place and got to learn about the exotic-animal trade as well as where each animal came from and what conditions they were in before they were brought to LTB (Lions Tigers and Bears). The other interns and I got to see bears, a bobcats, an African serval, lions, tigers, a leopard, and a mountain lion, as well as others animals such as goats, sheep, horses, pigs, llamas, etc. It was fun getting to see these animals and seeing the peacocks just walking around the place. Especially since we actually got to SEE the animals unlike at the zoo where they are usually hiding. Afterwards, we got to speak with our mentor, Erin McCann, and ask her some questions and talk about the project we have to do over the course of this internship.
I will update this when I get the answers from my mentor (I lost the paper and just found it....) |