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Diving Right In

 Hello!

My name is Gillian, and I am a sophomore at Juniata College studying Environmental Science with a secondary emphasis in education. A little background about me is that I am from York, PA, I love to exercise, craft, be with my loved ones, and my favorite color is pink!

Yesterday, I just moved into my Air BnB that I will be staying at for the next few weeks before I move into my apartment. It was a very emotional experience for me to leave my friends and family for the summer to come to Allenwood, PA for a zookeeper position at Clyde Peeling's Reptiland. I found this position by researching AZA zoos in the area. Originally, I had applied for an internship, but instead, they offered me a paid zookeeper position! My parents put in a lot of work to make me feel at home such as buying me some of my favorite foods for the fridge and registering me for a gym
membership here. Tomorrow all of the hustle and bustle finally has a reason, as it is my first day on the job! I am nervous about a lot of things, but keep reminding myself that to be brave, you must first be afraid. I am so curious to see what my first day will hold. 

Previous summers, I stayed home and worked in my family's ice cream shop: Bonkey's. This summer though, my parents encouraged me to do something different. I found this internship through word of mouth. I have never even been to Reptiland! At Shaver's Creek, working with the turtles is one of my favorite things to do, so I decided to take the reptile route this summer. After a couple phone interviews, I got news that I received the job and applied for super internship funding. I am most excited to hold educational programs to work with children, which is my other passion. I look forward to what the next three months hold. 🐢

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