Alex the Vet Intern! ^_^ @alexek93-blog - Tumblr Blog

Heading off to School (A.K.A The End of the Summer of 2013)

Well, here we are. The end of the second summer of this blog. I had such an amazing time and learned so much this year. I have new experience, new stories and new friends that will all stay with me for life. And while I won't post again until next summer, I will be planning ahead for my next great summer adventure! ^_^ So, wish me luck and see you next year!

Interested, and proud friend

I find your blog to capture my interest fully and have learned all types of new things from it. I am so proud to call you my friend and I check all the time to see if there are any new updates! Your internship is absolutely amazing, and I am completely jealous! <3

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Brb, crying.

Thank you roomie! You are the best, honestly. Whenever I am in doubt, you help me see the good in life and let me know if I am doing a good (or bad!) job. I wouldn't have gone to Guatemala without you, and I wouldn't have gotten into the vet program if you had not convinced me that I could. I got so lucky when I got you as a roommate, and I know that we will be good friends for life. Thanks for supporting me, and I can't wait to see you this Fall! <3 ^_^

Weeks Two and Three (A.K.A: What Is This On my Shirt?)

Tired. Guize, I am tired. Week Two was pretty hard to get through, simply because you are just adjusting to a new atmosphere and working with new people. It rained almost every day, so walking around and working in wet clothes was not pleasant. And since one of the girls found a tick on her, everyone has been doing daily checks. Ew.

For the whole first week, I worked exclusively with the big cats in what is called Large Compound. I got to learn who get what kind of food, how medicine is administered when there is a no-touch policy, and how food can rile the animals up as well as calm them down. This is a scientific art form/voodoo magic, let me tell you.

Towards the end of the second week, I got to start working with our other animals in what is called Small Compound. I was definitely not looking forward to it. Not only would I be away from my big cats for three days in a row...I didn't care much for/didn't know anything about binturongs, kinkajous, genets, singing dogs or lemurs. Servals and wolves were fine, but I thought I would have a bad time in smalls. Turns out I was right: the first day, I was not excited at all. I had to learn a whole new food prep routine and all this other stuff. Most of the animals were nocturnal so I was usually cleaning an "empty" cage. Of course, I do what is asked of me without complaint. I just wasn't looking forward to it.

Fast forward a few days, and I am seeming to prefer small compound...what?! I love one of the genets that I "work" closely with (by which I mean I am fixing up his enclosure as my intern project) and really want to "adopt" him through the center's adoption program. Binturongs are still...interesting little creatures, but one of them is really amusing and cute. I have yet to really see a kinkajou. I have always been in love with servals, so being able to study them while they sleep, eat, and hiss at me as I walk by is super interesting. I even enjoy prepping their food...even though I'm not very good at it yet.

Week three = 90 degree weather. Dying. So hot. I regret praying away the rain. And the heat makes everyone cranky and snappy. What are you gonna do...I just keep on my toes and try to remember everything I've been told so far. Being reprimanded for something stupid you know you knew just sucks. So, I'm getting into the swing of things. Hopefully by the end I will actually know what I'm doing.

Most nights, we interns are knocked out by 10:30. It is 11:30 now, and why am I up. I need to go to bed. New update soon.

theanimalblog

Tiger Cub

alexek93-blog

Totes adorbs

Week One! (Affectionately Referred to as The Seventh Circle of Hell)

So, I am still alive, with all of my various body parts still attached. So lets consider that a successful first week!

As usual, I was nervous about meeting the other interns. They are all chill and unique in their own ways, so that’s a sigh of relief. The work is hard, muggy, rainy, muddy, spider-y, and very VERY chicken-y. I don’t think I will be able to look at a chicken the same way after this internship is over lol….or a rat, for that matter. The animals are breathtaking, and as I work alongside them everyday I really get to appreciate how they move and interact with not only each other but us as well. So cool.

Our typical day starts at 8. We check-in and start to prep the meals for every animal in the center. That takes about an hour and a half. Then, we are divided and sent out to feed and check on the animals, clean their cages, change their water (which they often like to dunk their lunch into…) and do general stuff like that. By lunch, my feet kill, I’m usually soaked to the bone from the random rain showers, and covered with various fluids of which I’ve stopped trying to identify.

After lunch (from which I can assure you nobody wants to leave) we do various projects that need to be done. Usually construction or enclosure cleaning. I’m home by 5, usually in bed asleep by 8:30. Brief overview of my day, without getting too graphic. I’ll update again soon.

Off to a Bad Start...

Soooo it turns out I can't read a calendar...apparently, my move-in day was TODAY and not tomorrow. I've never packed so fast in my life! I felt so bad that I slipped up, but nobody seemed to mind and I made it. So I'm here and settled in. The rest of the girls are great, which is cool. Hope this goes well! ^_^

Guatemala 2013 Pics, Part One

Hello everyone! I am BACK! Guatemala was.....life-changing. I don't believe that it ever truly sank in that I was there. From the moment I first spotted it from the plane window, I was hooked. I know that probably sounds a bit exaggerated, but I was so excited I didn't know what to do!

First: a bit of background. Who we are, why we were there, and what we were doing. I am a junior board member of the Kindersmile Foundation. We are based in New Jersey and our goal is to provide underprivileged children (both domestically and internationally) with free dental care, oral health awareness and disease prevention. Every year, the members fundraise and plan a trip to a different country. Previous trips include Haiti and Jamaica. When I found out that our trip this year was going to be Guatemala, I knew I had to go. I am obsessed with Guatemala: the culture, the people, the food, the music, the lake Atitlan, everything. I know all the stats, from the national bird and flower to part of the national anthem! This passion paired with my passion for community service and humanitarian work made this a dream come true for me. I knew I would do whatever it took to get there and help. Since I moved from New Jersey for college, I had to do the fundraising separate from the rest of the group (who did most of their fundraising through group/community events). With the help of my amazing, friends, family, professors and community, I was able to raise all the money on my own, without a dime from my parents (a feat that I am extremely proud of....and never thought I would be able to say.) Sure enough, June 21st rolled around and I was on a plane to Guatemala City with 30 other kids decked out in blue shirts.

It's really interesting to go on a trip with 20- something people that you have never met before. It is even worse when you know you are coming into a fully bonded group who might not like you. It was really hard to not wonder what people were going to think about you and say about you, but I knew that we were all there for the same reason, and so I did as best I could to keep that in mind. Here's pretty much the whole group. Very cheery lot.

There were kids from all backgrounds, from ages 14 to 24. We also had 5 dentists, including a husband and wife team. They were all so nice to me, and offered conversation or their assistance if I needed it. I'm an introvert, so I guess my quiet, "stare off into space" moments was cause for some concern.

We stayed in homes about a half hour from any of the villages that we were to visit. The girls (all 19 of us) stayed in one house, and the boys stayed in another. The house was on the edge of the woods, and had bunk beds, clean water (even though the showers were rarely anything close to hot) , and even a t.v. (that we never turned on). I think the hardest part for everyone was the lack of service...and WiFi. One night Kent brought his laptop and internet to the house, and I still cant believe a fight didn't break out!

The rides to each location were always slightly different, but one thing was the same: the endless farmlands. We were in the mountains, where it rained every day at almost exactly 3pm. There was always a blanket of mist covering the roads and landscape, so driving along the very high, very narrow roads was a "hold your breath at every bump" kind of experience. Good thing our drivers were experts!

Here's a bit more early morning nature:

Very lush and green.

Okay, the main event: working with the kids! I have to tell y'all...it was difficult. In so many ways. First of all, most of the people are indigenous, and speak a dialect that sounded like a blend between Spanish and an African click/bush language. So my limited knowledge of Spanish seems to go out the window. Luckily we had translators who spoke the dialect.

Here is me and my translator, Estuardo, asking a girl about her allergies and medical problems. He didn't speak English...we had our own secret sign language by the end of the day. Magical. He was a life saver.

The other thing that made it difficult was seeing the condition the kids teeth were in. Some kids as young as 9 begging us to get their teeth pulled because the pain was so bad. Little ones with no teeth at all, or plaque caked on to more than 90% of every tooth. I won't put a video up of any of that, but one of my jobs was to hold the light for the dentist. I saw almost every mouth that was treated on day two, and it was hard try and look professional, and not let them see you get teary eyed. The really young ones looked so terrified, and you just wanted to tell them it was all right, and that we were there trying to help make them feel better. One little boy needed six extractions. It was probably his first time ever seeing a dentist, and here we are with masks and needles in his mouth and scary looking objects pulling at his teeth. He was screaming "No quiero Mommy!" (I don't want it) over and over, and I felt so bad. His mother knew he needed it. though, and was trying to console him.

This little girl was 5 (the kids age very well...they always looked younger than they were), and did so well. Most of the kids with loose baby teeth or no real problems just got a good cleaning and fluoride. And a sticker and goodie bag, of course!

I have so much more to write about, but that will have to wait for a Part Two. Just wanted to give y'all a bit of insight about the first few days. It's 3am...I gotta get to sleep! Nite ^_^

Guatemala Intro Post!

So, I haven't really been up to date on my summer so far. Once I got back home, it took me a few days to sleep off the jetlag. But I fear what will happen if I delay this post any longer.

So, here we go!

Summer 2013!

Hello everyone! I'm back for another amazing summer of fun stuff. I wish I could've posted during the year, but I was so busy with school (and since my life was kinda boring) I decided to wait until summer

So, what will I be doing this summer? First of all, I spend all year raising funds to go on a trip to Guatemala with a group called the KinderSmile Foundation. We provide free dental services and dental hygiene awareness to low income families, both domestically and internationally. So this summer we have chosen to go to Guatemala, where we will be able to help over 600 children in various orphanages all over the country! I am super excited for, it and have been working hard to help raise the funds.

As far as my animal career goes, I was selected for an amazing opportunity this summer: an internship with the Conservators' Center in North Carolina!

The Conservators' Center is a non profit organization that preserves threatened species through educational programs and support worldwide, responsible captive breeding, and rescuing wildlife in need. They have many animals: tigers, lions, wolves, leopards, lemurs, binturongs, servals, red foxes, caracals, bobcats, lynx, kinkajous, ocelots, New Guinea singing dogs and so many more. I am SO EXCITED and honored to have been selected for this internship. I am hoping it will be as amazing and educational as I imagine.

So, I have a pretty full summer! Stay tuned for awesomeness!

Thank You! :)

Since my summer has come to a close, and I am now in my second year of school for pre-veterinary, I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone fro supporting me! It means so so much to me that all of these people shared my dream and boosted me up when I was in doubt. So the next few posts will be some of the messages I received during the past summer.

Riding with MCACC (Maricopa County Animal Control Center) Two different days this weeek....learned so much, and saw some really cool, interesting and sad things. People are so neglectful :(

Phoenix Zoo visit! :)

Reflection #2

I can't believe that more than half my summer internship is over! It went by so fast. I just wanted to talk a little about what my journey has been like so far, and what it has done for my life.

I don't know what I want to do after veterinary school. I always say "I want to go where there is the most need. I want to help." And it is true. I want to use these vastly different perspectives and experiences, along with my schooling, to help animals. I think that, while it is a simple mission statement, it gives me so much room to work in. I don't want to be boxed in a hospital somewhere. I want to travel, and work in a zoo, and be a veterinarian in the Army. I want to work on crazy viruses and bring new life into the world and run a tiger reserve. I want to get my hands dirty doing it all, and I want to do it for the good of animal-kind. I don't want to grow linearly....I want to bounce everywhere, and be GOOD at everything I do. I've learned so much this summer just by asking everyone I meet one simple question: "Where is there a great need in veterinary medicine?" The answers always surprise me.

Life is short, and there is so much I want to do. I hope know that this will all be worth it. Every veterinarian, technician, front office staff, welfare officer, slaughterhouse lineman, employee, CEO, and joe schmo I meet adds to my vision, and my greatest fear was that I won't be able to do what I want. I've received so much great advice (and caution) about my plan, and hopefully my success will be worth something. My life is committed to animals, and honestly, I'm not out to change the world....I just want to do what I can to make it a little better.

#Reflection

Life isn't fair. But it presents you with opportunities. You decide what to do with them."

I don't know who said this, but it was always on the whiteboard in Dr. Durham's office. It was really inspirational, especially for me in this time of "why is life so cruel?" It was just another little gem of wisdom, one that he didn't even know he had given me. I will think of it, always, and use it as my motivation to push through the hard stuff. ^_^

krissstenamber

alexek93-blog

My Zoo internship starts this week. This is my vision of what it will be like....reality will hit me hard in the face lolol. But I can dream, yeah?

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