New year, new career experiences

First off, the weather! I haven’t felt anything colder than 40 degrees in almost a decade, so I have been trying not to be a huge baby about all the chilly weather we’ve had this season. It also makes a huge impact on us as animal care professionals as well, since we have to make sure our birds are nice and warm, too, so we have been very busy with “winterizing,” which is also a very new concept for me.

This is also my first time performing/hosting a presentation with free-flighted birds. I began doing shows back in October, and while I was really nervous at first, they have become almost second nature for me at this point. Getting the hang of working with the birds while also remembering what to say has probably been the biggest challenge, and requires a lot of muscle memory. It was a pretty big step out of my comfort zone, but has proven to be very rewarding and super cool!

I’ll refrain from commenting on Atlanta traffic (for now), but I will say that moving to this incredible city and getting to work at my dream zoo has been such a positive change for my life, and I couldn’t be happier than where I am now! I took a huge leap moving away from Orlando, so if you’re on the fence about a major life change, I am definitely on the team for “go for it!” as you never know where it might take you.

I have loved being here for this last year and I am looking forward to what the next years bring for me.