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Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventure here on the Zoo’s website!
My childhood revolved around nature and its magical wonders. As a family, we took many road trips across the United States, from Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. My parents have had a huge impact on my life. They influence me to appreciate the natural world, and to not take our precious environment for granted. One of my earliest memories is of driving into Yosemite Valley when I was six years old and gazing up at what appeared to me to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world, El Captain. Just last year, our family visited Yosemite Valley again, and apart from the bumper-to-bumper, snarled, and congested traffic, Yosemite did not disappoint. Eleven years ago, I marveled at El Captain, and this year I made a promise to myself. One day I will climb every foot of that 7,569 feet of sheer granite wall.
Nature and the environment engulf my interests and activities. I rock climb, surf, backpack, camp, and mountaineer every chance I get. I set goals to challenge myself physically and mentally in both rock climbing and surfing. I love to be active. My older brother is my best friend and role model, and we have traveled across the west, always on the lookout for the perfect crisp wave and the next rock to climb. My love of nature has magnified and my dream to conserve our natural wonders has only strengthened. My passions drive my life and let me see the world with a new perspective.
My goal in life is to help make this world a better place, like my parents have done as teachers for over twenty years. I hope to make this world a better place by becoming an animal researcher. I remember, like it was yesterday, my first grade teacher assigning my class a project about the simple but crucial question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” In first grade, I wanted to be a marine biologist, and today very little has changed. Instead I want to be an animal researcher, and travel across the world studying animal behaviors and collecting data for the scientific field. All my life I have dreamed of working with animals and creating a world which I hope to shape for the better. One day, I will make that dream a reality.
Kristofer
Fall Session, 2016
My childhood revolved around nature and its magical wonders. As a family, we took many road trips across the United States, from Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. My parents have had a huge impact on my life. They influence me to appreciate the natural world, and to not take our precious environment for granted. One of my earliest memories is of driving into Yosemite Valley when I was six years old and gazing up at what appeared to me to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world, El Captain. Just last year, our family visited Yosemite Valley again, and apart from the bumper-to-bumper, snarled, and congested traffic, Yosemite did not disappoint. Eleven years ago, I marveled at El Captain, and this year I made a promise to myself. One day I will climb every foot of that 7,569 feet of sheer granite wall.
Nature and the environment engulf my interests and activities. I rock climb, surf, backpack, camp, and mountaineer every chance I get. I set goals to challenge myself physically and mentally in both rock climbing and surfing. I love to be active. My older brother is my best friend and role model, and we have traveled across the west, always on the lookout for the perfect crisp wave and the next rock to climb. My love of nature has magnified and my dream to conserve our natural wonders has only strengthened. My passions drive my life and let me see the world with a new perspective.
My goal in life is to help make this world a better place, like my parents have done as teachers for over twenty years. I hope to make this world a better place by becoming an animal researcher. I remember, like it was yesterday, my first grade teacher assigning my class a project about the simple but crucial question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” In first grade, I wanted to be a marine biologist, and today very little has changed. Instead I want to be an animal researcher, and travel across the world studying animal behaviors and collecting data for the scientific field. All my life I have dreamed of working with animals and creating a world which I hope to shape for the better. One day, I will make that dream a reality.
Kristofer
Fall Session, 2016
