Learning Outside of the Classroom
Wildlife Rehab
The single thing that I can relate to the most growth in my life is through my work at the WRC. When I first started as a nervous and shy 13 year old I wouldn’t speak to anyone unless they were close friends or family. Public speaking was my greatest fear; I would often time become physically ill before any oral presentation. My ideas and opinions on the world around me stayed in my head. DaLyn Ericson the wildlife specialist or head rehabber of the WRC provided the push that changed my world. She taught me that standing up for what is right is never wrong.
What finally broke my shell was the year that I almost lost my role model. DaLyn swallowed her retainer, ripping her esophagus and filling her lungs with blood. In order to save her half of one of her lung was removed. This resulted in her not being able to work. A frantic group of Volunteers worked around the clock to try to pick up the slack. It was at this time that I was thrown into the “Real” world of rehab. This world consists of dealing with the public more then it dose of working with the animals. I soon found out that the human holding the bird needed as much comfort and reassuring as the injured wildlife itself. I had to learn how to speak to the public in a way that reflected positively on the organization that I worked for as well as getting the point across.
In an almost life ending event for DaLyn she helped me grow to be a better person. I have received many jobs over the past years steaming from my ability to do public speaking. Including my current job a Tracy Aviary where I run the Amazon Adventure, the public feeds Sun Conures while being feed tasty tidbits of facts about the endangered birds. However my favorite work will always be behind stage, caring for the over 300,000 birds I have helped play a part in returning to the wild.
