Blog #10: The End: Tuesday Dec 13th
The final thought I have about my WLE is that it taught me a lot. I have grown much as a person because of this experience and I feel more prepared for my future. I know that on certain days things were harder than most but in the end, it was all worth it. I have worked with different aspects of things at Sulphur Creek like paper work, hospital work, and I have also worked with the animals we have living there. This will effect me because I know that I want to work with animals in my future but I might try something different like a music internship so I can see how that works. I'm also interested in music so I might want to try something in that field. The other thing I was thinking was that I coud do something with the SPCA and see how that works because my future goal is to go to veterinarian school at UC Davis and then branch out into wildlife and become a wildlife veterinarian which will take me to work with the SPCA.
Blog #9: Life at my WLE: Tuesday Dec 6th
Today at my WLE, I worked regularly in the hospital. We finished quicker than usual so I tagged along with another volunteer and we did outside birds. It consisted of going into each individual cage and removing their bowls of food and enrichment, if any, and then cleaning out their water dishes to refill them. The picture to the left is of Coco, the yellow-billed magpie. She has a funny story because she was kept as a pet so when she had first come in, she was reciting lines from a Spanish t.v. show. Did you know that there are birds other than parrots that can mimic? Today I also presented at my WLE and hopefully passed. After my presentation, I helped color some christmas cards with, YOU GUESSED IT, pictures of ducks on them! When I finished a few, Nicole, a naturalist asked if I could help put labels on envelopes so I went across the way and also helped her. As an intern, I have improved because my ability to handle difficult or large amounts of tasks at once. I've learned to be more thorough with my jobs and also have bettered myself in understanding the work at Sulphur Creek. I have improved because I am able to make more sense of what I'm doing and I am not afraid to answer and ask questions. My workplace is awesome because of the environment. It's so quiet and peaceful and it's easy to relax while I'm working. The people are all there for a common purpose; we all love it there. We all love animals and we all love working with them. My workplace is great because it's an amazing experience for me and especially because later on I want to work in this profession. The only thing that isn't so great about this workplace is that I have a sensitive stomach so at times, it's difficult for me to deal with the smell of the living, and the deceased animals. Other than that, my workplace is overall wonderful.
Blog #8: Professionalism: Tuesday Nov 29th
Since I was already volunteering at Sulphur Creek Nature Center, I didn't have to go through any interview processes. I spoke to one of the directors I usually consult with on my regular wednesday volunteering days and asked if it would be alright to do an internship there for the reasons which are stated in our WLE explanation doccuments. The main reason I was excepted was because there is a policy that if you want to volunteer it must be for atleast 6 months so since I was already volunteering, and wasn't planning to quit after WLE was over, I was given the priveledge. The most effective way of looking for a job and getting hired is by being professional, checking in with the people you talk to, and taking initiative. To look for a job, it's easy to find someone you know personally and see if they have any connections with people who work in the field that you are interested in learning about. It is also easy to go online and find places near you with available space for a volunteer or an intern to begin with. If calling to speak to a manager, it's a good idea to check back in with them because they like to hear that you are persistant and don't give up when you're dedicated to do something. As a result of my WLE, I think being a professional or a responsible adult in the work world means that you should take what you are doing seriously. There is a time to work and a time to play and it should be evenly spread out so that not only are you doing what you should be, but you learn from it. To be a serious adult means in the work world means to work diligently, ask questions, take suggestions, and stay positive.
Blog #7: What I learned, Reflection: Tuesday Nov 22nd
Because of my WLE experience, I have learned that I extremely would like to work with wild life. I learned that I can tollerate a lot when it comes to animal behavior and animal care. I am ready to major in some type of zoology because I would like to be a veterinarian for not only domestic animals, but wildlife animals too. I find that I enjoy snakes, rats, chickens and more just as lovable and cute as a cat or a dog. Some challenges aI've faced through my WLE experience are that I had to work with animals dying, cleaning up poop, getting pooped on, being sick at the work place and doing things I might not really like. I have also learned to work with others in a small working environment. I learned that by doing things I don't like, it helps me grow and it helps my mind set for when I go into the real field. I have experienced what it really feels like to work with wildlife, the dangers and the precausions and it made me love it that much more. In certian situations, I understand I have to ask questions, be attentive, write things down and let my mentor know that I need help because in the log run, it's better than doing something wrong. From this experience, I learned that my passion has been and will always be animals. The life lesson I learned is that as people, we aren't aware that what we do effects everything. Animals are like people, they have families, they grew and evolved, they eat, drink and they communicate. Did you know that rats have the ability to learn to respond to their name, and come when you call them? Did you know that there are certain birds, other than Parrots, that can speak? I know of two, at Sulphur Creek. Animals are incredible creaures and I believe they deserve respect like they respect us. Overall, I learned to be causious because there are other life forms living on this Earth and we don't seem to care. During my experience, my creativity was greatly used because I needed to use my mind in order to fulfill the tasks that were given to me. My WLE effected the animals I helped take care of, the people are worked with and the community who believes that helping animals makes a difference. This effected me because I really understand now. I know what I want to do with my future and it helps set everything up. I have been greatly effected because I see that the little things make huge differences and if only more people were aware, we could all come together to make an even bigger difference. I believe that this profession is a big job because you need to be able to differenciate species, decide what will help them and what is wrong with them, and sometimes all you can rely on is yourself. A specific skill I practices was recording weights on animals, cleaning their cages, and feeding them. This is important because when an animal comes in, it needs to be treated the right way in order to survive and be released once again. If someone were to ask me why what I did at my WLE was important, I would tell them that I'm doing little things that help make a big difference. I would explain to them that I was a big help in keeping organization and following orders given to me from my mentor. Because of my WLE, I know exactly what I want to do in my future. I know that I want to continue working with wildlife animals and I know I want to work with the SPCA in making sure animals who have been neglected, abused or hurt can be taken care of. Animals of all kinds, not just the domestic ones.
Blog #6: Leadership Skills: Tuesday Nov 15th
(P.S. this bird is called a Poorwill. Don't underestimate it; it has an extremely big mouth.)
The leadership skill I am most utilizing is Collaborate Productively. At my WLE I use this skill because as soon as I came in, I had to adapt to the people who work my shift with me. I needed to work with them in the kitchen as well as collaborate with my mentor so it was difficult at times. The dishes would pile up, the laundry needed to be folded, everyone had their own job, and many of us needed tools that were dirty and needed to be cleaned but an important environmental set up for the animals' kennels needed to be sanitized in the dish washer, also. I am using this skill well at my WLE because I make sure to keep calm in particularly stressful situations with the other volunteers that come in on Tuesdays. I could improve by voicing my opinion to the other volunteers. Overall, my performance in collaborating is much improved and it's good because I am able to collaborate respectfully as well as productively. This leadership skill helps me because in order to work efficiently I need to work with my surroundings, in other words, my coworkers. My mentor uses Critical Thinking because she analyzes what is wrong with the animal that comes in and uses what she knows and her resources to come up with the right medicine, the right surroundings in their kennel, and how much of what to feed the animal.
The leadership skill I am most utilizing is Collaborate Productively. At my WLE I use this skill because as soon as I came in, I had to adapt to the people who work my shift with me. I needed to work with them in the kitchen as well as collaborate with my mentor so it was difficult at times. The dishes would pile up, the laundry needed to be folded, everyone had their own job, and many of us needed tools that were dirty and needed to be cleaned but an important environmental set up for the animals' kennels needed to be sanitized in the dish washer, also. I am using this skill well at my WLE because I make sure to keep calm in particularly stressful situations with the other volunteers that come in on Tuesdays. I could improve by voicing my opinion to the other volunteers. Overall, my performance in collaborating is much improved and it's good because I am able to collaborate respectfully as well as productively. This leadership skill helps me because in order to work efficiently I need to work with my surroundings, in other words, my coworkers. My mentor uses Critical Thinking because she analyzes what is wrong with the animal that comes in and uses what she knows and her resources to come up with the right medicine, the right surroundings in their kennel, and how much of what to feed the animal.
Blog #5: Progress on my WLE Project, part 1: Tuesday Nov 8th
Today at my WLE I showed up, put on my apron and my name tag and stepped
into the hospital. I began my day by drawing medicine for the animals who needed
it. After I did that, we began to weigh our ducks, clean out their cages, and
feed them. I felt really bad because we had a bird that my mentor had been
trying really hard to take care of but when she opened the animal's incubator,
it didn't make it. I felt pretty sad but I understood that it's part of what
happens at Sulphur Creek and what it is so incredible for. I cleaned out the
remaining food, water and bedding for that animal and then we went on to the
rest of the animals in the room. Afterwards, I cleaned out cages for the
opposums and made them new diets to eat. When the hospital room was taken care
of, I helped out with Lending Library and our rat and mouse breeding wall. We
cleaned their bedding, refilled their water, and gave them treats. I was
extremely excited because I found a baby rat that had a fur imprint that looked
like a heart (picture above) and I really wanted to take it home. Any one that
knows me knows that I find hearts everywhere, but it made me laugh because it
was so rare to find something like that. The heart also looked like a Nike check
so I decided to name the rat Nike (even though I'm not really supposed to).
After working with Lending Library and the breeding wall I went into the kitchen
and helped out the new volunteers. We also had a new shipment of 5 ducks found
with Botalism so I helped sign each one in, make cards for their kennels, and
get them weighed. My mentor and I talked about how people aren't aware of what
happens to these animals and how much care it takes to bring them in. She told
me that some people can't place a simple donation but it takes thousands of
dollars per year to take care of all these animals that come into our care. So
far, I have set out guidelines for my project, and began taking extra pictures
for the pamflets. I'm going to begin talking to the people on site about Sulphur
Creek Nature Center and behind the scenes.
into the hospital. I began my day by drawing medicine for the animals who needed
it. After I did that, we began to weigh our ducks, clean out their cages, and
feed them. I felt really bad because we had a bird that my mentor had been
trying really hard to take care of but when she opened the animal's incubator,
it didn't make it. I felt pretty sad but I understood that it's part of what
happens at Sulphur Creek and what it is so incredible for. I cleaned out the
remaining food, water and bedding for that animal and then we went on to the
rest of the animals in the room. Afterwards, I cleaned out cages for the
opposums and made them new diets to eat. When the hospital room was taken care
of, I helped out with Lending Library and our rat and mouse breeding wall. We
cleaned their bedding, refilled their water, and gave them treats. I was
extremely excited because I found a baby rat that had a fur imprint that looked
like a heart (picture above) and I really wanted to take it home. Any one that
knows me knows that I find hearts everywhere, but it made me laugh because it
was so rare to find something like that. The heart also looked like a Nike check
so I decided to name the rat Nike (even though I'm not really supposed to).
After working with Lending Library and the breeding wall I went into the kitchen
and helped out the new volunteers. We also had a new shipment of 5 ducks found
with Botalism so I helped sign each one in, make cards for their kennels, and
get them weighed. My mentor and I talked about how people aren't aware of what
happens to these animals and how much care it takes to bring them in. She told
me that some people can't place a simple donation but it takes thousands of
dollars per year to take care of all these animals that come into our care. So
far, I have set out guidelines for my project, and began taking extra pictures
for the pamflets. I'm going to begin talking to the people on site about Sulphur
Creek Nature Center and behind the scenes.
Blog # 4: Project Brainstorm: Tuesday Nov 1st
For my WLE project, I am thinking to create some sort of awareness of the animals who come in and out of Sulphur Creek Nature Center. Not many people know we even exist and I feel like if people knew what these animals went through, how our actions affect them, and what happens to then in the long run, we would be much more self conscious about it. My project would involve creating some type of packet of animal awareness and maybe adding some type of publicity towards our nature center. I came up with this idea when I spoke to my mentor and another important director of Sulphur Creek while they were tubing the ducks. They told me that there wasn't really much awarenes that anything was being affected by people's actions and it's a bigger deal than anyone expects. When an animal is placed in our care, it takes more than just an examination to make them better. When in the hospital room, the process to take care of an animal involves weighing, creating a cage, figuring out what's wrong with it, what type of animal it is, how much food it takes, how much medicine will help it, how long is needs medicine for and much more. The process is expensive and many people don't want to donate to our cause because they don't realize how difficult it is. I'm extremely excited to complete this project over the next few weeks because Sulphur Creek Nature Center is an incredible place that makes an incredible difference and people don't understand because they don't know and quite frankly, don't seem to care. Bringing awareness will not only help the animals, which is what we're all about, but it will help people understand the idea that nothing anyone does is without consequence. In order to finish my project in the next few weeks, I'll need computer access, pictures from the Nature Center and maybe even quotes from other volunteers or Naturalists. I plan to also bring more attention to Sulphur Creek by asking more people to visit. We are an nonprofit organization and it would be incredible to show people that there change that should be made.
Blog #3: My Role: Tuesday Oct 25th
My title would be volunteer/intern. I deal with many things, not just a certain job. Currently, I help keep track of the many ducks that have been coming in to the work place. I help with the paper work, holding them to be fed, draw their medication, swimming them, and cleaning out their kennels. My job also consists of making different diets for different animals like the huge variety of birds we have or the opposums and skunk we have. In the mornings, when the ducks have been fed and medicated and there is time for me to work on other things, I help another volunteer with our rat/mouse breeding colony by helping her clean out their cages, feed them and refill their water bowls. On certain Tuesdays, I help with enrichment of other animals that we have for Lending Library (Lending Library is a program we have where someone can take home one of a few different types of animals). Each week, I am completing tasks with other volunteers also because I keep up with laundry, dishes and the making of diets for the resident and rehabilitated animals. A regular day I have begins with me walking into the office, going into the volunteer room and grabbing my name tag. I make my way through the hallway waving hello to Gracie and the other morning Volunteers while looking forward and seeing the wall kennels where our 3 opposums and skunk subside during the day. I walk passed the kitchen and into our laundry room where I put on my apron and safety-pin on my name tag. I walk back through the hallway into the hospital room where I ask Gracie if she would like me to draw the morning medication for our rehabilitated animals. I write down each animal's type and its number and use a syringe to gather everything in an organized way for when the ducks get their tubing (breakfast). We begin by kennel and weigh each duck; after weighing each duck and recording their weight in kilograms, we give them their morning medication and then feed them. We keep them in boxed while I clean out their kennels and disinfect them, reset them up and do it again with each one. This takes a while and by the end of tubing, I am ready to report to Gracie and ask her what her next task for me is. Usually, I make diets for some animals and help out in the kitchen. At times, I help another vounteer with the animal enrichment for breeding colonies and Lending Library animals. After this, there is more ducks to be fed. By that time, it's lunch. We all gather around the volunteer room with our food and socialize, make jokes, talk about everything and eventually go back to work. After lunch, the ducks deserve a swim so we fill up a special sink we have that turns into a tub and let each group of ducks swim. Eventually these ducks will get better and be sent back to where they came from. New girls had come in on the first day of my internship, so I also help them with what they should be doing after working with the ducks. This is basically a day at Sulphur Creek Nature Center. But no day is ever the same.
Blog #2: My Mentor: Tuesday Oct 18th
My mentor's name is Gracie Stafford and she is the assistant director of animal care. Gracie has many jobs. One thing she does best is help out anyone who seems clueless; she's an incredible mentor. She's patient and answers any questions and while on the job, she is completely proffesional while keeping it fun. She's a major contributer to the staff because she is able to keep up with so much at once. Gracie keeps up with the phones, takes care of the animals that comes in (along with the people who come in with them) and she is incredibly knowledgable about what she is talking about. She isn't afraid to tell someone that she would need to look something up before answering correctly. Gracie's typical week involves keeping up with the phones, the animals who are coming in along with the animals that go back out, keeping up with the staff and making sure that they are working on what needs to be done and keeping up with the paper work and other work in the office. I would need to speak to Gracie about what interested her to go into this field but I would believe that the education needed would be some type of degree in wildlife.
Blog #1: My Workplace: Tuesday Oct 11th
My workplace is called Sulphur Creek Nature Center and we are a wildlife animal resuce facility. We are a small business, in a secluded foresty area. Sulphur Creek Nature Center is located on D Street, up the hill from All Saints Church. It's a small area with many cages and animals and a room with other animals that can't be kept outside in cages. It also has gardens. Many people work but on different days. My workplace employs people who have experiences there. I'm not sure what degree of college these people have. My workplace serves animals. The strengths of my workplace are that it serves the public but at the same time, it serves the animals that it takes care of, rehabilitates and sets back into the wild. A weakness of my workplace would be that it's extremely small and easy to miss if it isn't being looked for. There's only a small sign.
