What new appreciations did you develop while working as an intern?
During internship, I spent a lot of time thinking about where the animals I was working with would end up. It made me think about how much work really goes into the life of an animal, starting from the time they are born. It made me think about my pets, and how many different people were probably involved in their lives at some point. I never really thought about where the animals at Petco came from, but now I have a lot of appreciation for the people involved in breeding and raising those animals. From the time an animal is born, someone has to feed, water, clean, and medicate it. Then someone has coordinate the sale, many other people work to get it to its destination, then it has to be sold again. It is really a long and complicated process, and I now have a lot of appreciation for everyone involved.
What new questions has your internship inspired you to ask about our world?
This internship really made me think about the pet industry differently. It made me question why we keep animals as pets, and if there is any way we can improve the system to allow breeders to spend more time selective breeding for certain things as opposed to mass production. On a different note, this internship also got me thinking about behavior and its connection to genetics. When I was giving medicine, I observed very unique behavior from one dragon to the next. Some were very calm, some were scared, and some tried to fight.
What qualities or characteristics did you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself?
The quality that I was most impressed with in my coworkers was the ability to do very repetitive tasks for long periods of time without getting frustrated or board. One of my coworkers spends each day doing the same thing, washing dragon bins and feeding the dragons. I was very impressed that he came in each day in a good mood, despite the fact that all of the work he did the previous day had to be done again. It must be so frustrating because he spends all day washing the bins, and then by the time he finishes the last bin, the first ones are dirty again. I want to learn how to stay motivated to do repetitive tasks, because when I am in veterinary school I will have to spend a lot of time doing repetitive things.
During internship, I spent a lot of time thinking about where the animals I was working with would end up. It made me think about how much work really goes into the life of an animal, starting from the time they are born. It made me think about my pets, and how many different people were probably involved in their lives at some point. I never really thought about where the animals at Petco came from, but now I have a lot of appreciation for the people involved in breeding and raising those animals. From the time an animal is born, someone has to feed, water, clean, and medicate it. Then someone has coordinate the sale, many other people work to get it to its destination, then it has to be sold again. It is really a long and complicated process, and I now have a lot of appreciation for everyone involved.
What new questions has your internship inspired you to ask about our world?
This internship really made me think about the pet industry differently. It made me question why we keep animals as pets, and if there is any way we can improve the system to allow breeders to spend more time selective breeding for certain things as opposed to mass production. On a different note, this internship also got me thinking about behavior and its connection to genetics. When I was giving medicine, I observed very unique behavior from one dragon to the next. Some were very calm, some were scared, and some tried to fight.
What qualities or characteristics did you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself?
The quality that I was most impressed with in my coworkers was the ability to do very repetitive tasks for long periods of time without getting frustrated or board. One of my coworkers spends each day doing the same thing, washing dragon bins and feeding the dragons. I was very impressed that he came in each day in a good mood, despite the fact that all of the work he did the previous day had to be done again. It must be so frustrating because he spends all day washing the bins, and then by the time he finishes the last bin, the first ones are dirty again. I want to learn how to stay motivated to do repetitive tasks, because when I am in veterinary school I will have to spend a lot of time doing repetitive things.