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Progress not Perfection

Today, I began moving into my apartment that I will be staying in for the rest of summer. Something that I've noticed about being a college student that I do not particularly enjoy is the constant moving. You move in and out of a new dorm every year, move into summer housing (twice in my case), move into field station housing, move into study abroad housing, move back home over break...It is a never ending cycle. 

At work, I have completed my first animal encounter. Basically, these are times where we let guests interact with an animal and give them some extra information. I enjoy this because I love talking to kids, I get to learn a bit more about a specific species, and can spend some extra time with my favorite animals. Currently, my favorite is a Blue Tongued Skink named Sully. With him, I usually discuss his use of mimicry to protect himself in the wild. 

Another daily responsibility is to monitor the parakeet room. This part of my day is usually serene because if it is slow, I get to relax with the birds. Howe
ver, when there are a lot of guests, things become a bit more chaotic. I have to remind people to not pet or catch the birds, stay off the rocks, watch their step, walk, and sell feeding sticks at the same time. 

I have been practicing memorizing the script for the show Snakes and Lizards Alive! which I will be performing for the first time next week. Overall, I am very excited to start these shows because I love performing and interacting with families and learning new information, but I am also nervous that I will forget the information or something will go wrong with one of the animals we use during the show. I tend to be very hard on myself when it comes to training and expect perfection from myself which is impossible. This whole summer experience will hopefully build up my confidence!

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