I grew up at the zoo.
While I wasn’t literally raised at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, I had such an attachment that it already felt like my home. I’ve been going to the zoo since before I can remember. My parents knew I loved the zoo so they would take me when they could.
It started out as me just thinking the different animals looked funny; now the zoo represents my desire to work in the marine biology field in my future.
As a kid, I would listen as the keepers would explain all about the animal and what they were like in the wild compared to captivity. All this seemed normal to me, but when the keepers told me the polar bears had names and liked to play, take naps and eat, something switched in my brain.
Suddenly I realized these weren’t just animals in an enclosure; they were real living beings who had feelings of happiness, sadness, anger, hunger, boredom, just like I did. I realized that these creatures were more than just entertainment for humans; they were ambassadors for our understanding of other species and how they function in our current society.
From the moment my brain switched, I knew I needed to do something in my life that wouldn’t just benefit people. I wanted to help all of the species this precious world has to offer.
As I grew up in an area that’s somewhat close to water and I had a natural inclination towards marine creatures, I decided I wanted to work in marine biology. When I decided this in kindergarten, it seemed like just another dumb kids wish of “I want to be an astronaut when I grow up” or “I want to be a police officer.”
But I kept pursuing it, and bit by bit, I learned more than any kid should know about octopuses (yes that’s actually correct, technically it is not supposed to be octopi). By the time I got to junior high, it wasn’t just a dream to work in the Marine Biology field anymore; it was a personal goal. Somehow, some way, I knew I could get to that point, but I needed something to help me get there.
I started taking harder classes in school so that I could go to a better college where I could study marine biology. That culminated to me taking 11 AP classes while in high school and joining extracurriculars to boost my resume. But something was missing, if I really wanted to get to my dream college I needed some sort of experience in the field. I found out in early junior year that I could volunteer at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. It seemed perfect for me, not only would I be working in zoology, which is adjacent to marine biology, I’d be working at the very place that inspired me to pursue this career.
I applied for it during winter, I then waited and hoped that I could get in, they called me in for an interview and I waited for another couple of weeks.
I got in.
Excited wasn’t a word that would properly describe how I felt.
As I started my training, I knew that this was the perfect opportunity for me. I was going to work with animals and teach others about them. My mom always told me that she loved when I talked about animals because she would learn so many niche facts that she never would’ve learned if it weren’t for me.
I knew I was going to love getting to know the animals and learning new things about them, but I did not anticipate how much I would love teaching guests about the animals. There’s something special about telling an adult that a sea cucumber can throw up its intestines out of its body as a last-ditch effort to get away from a predator and watching their face light up with confusion and excitement.
Spewing animals’ facts to adults is quite interesting because their childlike curiosity will come back if you tell them a cool enough fact. However, nothing matches telling a little kid about an animal. Seeing their eyes enlarge as you tell them an adult polar bear is nearly twice the height of me (a 6-foot-tall man) and can weigh more than 1,000 pounds.
Helping kids learn to have empathy for animals is my favorite part of volunteering at the zoo. Yes, I am getting experience in zoology and marine biology and yes this will look nice on a college application, but teaching children how to love and care for species that aren’t our own is the best part about the zoo.
My biggest wish is that one day I will inspire a kid so much that they will want to pursue zoology in the future, just like that zookeeper did to me that day.
