The celebration of my 15 year anniversary as a Zoo Volunteer is fast
approaching and it’s got me feeling reflective. 15 years...I almost can’t
believe it’s been that long. One my longest commitments so far! So much has happened
in my life during this time: marriage, divorce, watching my nephew grow into an
amazing teenager, finding family I didn't know I had, phenomenal travel
opportunities, meeting some of the best people I've ever known who have (thankfully)
become great friends and finally, finding my passion in life and being able to transform
it into a career.
Most of the above list has no direct link with my volunteering
at the zoo except for the last one. I've been asked many times over the years
how it was I got into conservation as a career and it’s not a quick answer
because it certainly wasn't a linear path. You could definitely say I took the long way
around!
It was about 19 years ago that I was working for a marketing
company and feeling utterly lost; I just couldn't fathom that this was what I
was supposed to be doing with my life. I knew I had to do something to change
that but didn't know what or how. I met with the woman in charge of Human Resources
to explore different career options. To this day I’m eternally grateful to her
for expanding our ‘career conversation’ beyond opportunities within the company.
She asked me if I could do anything in the world, what is it that I would do?
That was a no brainer – I’d work with wildlife in some capacity. But I told her
that because I hadn't taken the ‘science’ path in university, I wasn't
qualified. She suggested something that, at the time, was just so foreign
to me: why didn't I volunteer somewhere with wildlife, maybe the zoo? I hadn't
grown up in a family that did volunteer work and volunteerism as a whole wasn't
as prevalent then (at least not in my peer group) as it is today. I had never
considered volunteering as a way to explore my interest in wildlife. Talk about
life-changing moments!
I left my meeting and immediately found out what I could
about the zoo’s volunteer program. As luck had it, they were taking
applications for the new volunteer class right then. I applied, had an
interview, was invited to join the training program and 12 weeks later I ‘graduated’
and have been volunteering ever since.
I know many people out there think zoos are terrible places,
and I agree that some definitely are. Over the years, many have told me they
can’t believe I would be involved with a zoo in any capacity. I posted an entry
last October about my feelings regarding zoos, and as I won’t go into detail
about that now, if you’re interested, you can read it here.
What I will say simply is this: my professional career in
conservation was greatly influenced by my time volunteering and learning at the
zoo. It’s been said that zoos have no role in the conservation of species or in
the education of the public but I’m proof that statement is false. If it weren't for my time there, I’m not sure I would have ended up
finding a way to transform my passion into a career. If I hadn't learned so
much about wildlife conservation and been so inspired from my time volunteering,
I’m not sure I would have been able to take the next step. And while it took a
few years, I was finally able to land a job at a conservation organization I had dreamed of
working for since I was a child. Since changing my career, I've had the great privilege of
working for 4 conservation organizations and have volunteered for another 7.
I've had the good fortune of being told by many zoo visitors
during the past 15 years that their interactions with me, learning about the zoo
animals and their wild counterparts, is what made them change many aspects of
their lives to help in the conservation of wildlife and the planet. I can't tell you what a blessing that feedback has been. Who knows if I’ll
make it another 15 years, but for however long I’m there, I just hope I can
continue to inspire zoo visitors with the wonders of wildlife and nature.
