Hi there! My name is Allison and I’m one of the newest interns here at the San Diego Zoo (Wow! It’s exciting just to be able to write that!). I can’t wait to experience all that this internship has to offer in the coming weeks, and I’m also very much looking forward to sharing it with all of you. With that in mind, I thought I’d take this chance to give you a little run-down of who I am and why I’m here. I’m a senior in high school. Am I excited to graduate? Definitely. Am I ready to wave goodbye to San Diego? Not quite. Since next year will probably find me attending an out-of-state college (sorry Mom!), I’m so happy that I’ll be spending a good deal of time at the Zoo this semester. It’s certainly going to be one of the places I’ll miss most! I’m crazy about anything outdoors-y. Hiking, camping, backpacking, bouldering, paddle boarding...I’m sure you get the picture. I’m not ashamed to admit that walking into an REI pretty much sets off an angel chorus in my head. I love spending time with family and friends outdoors, and if you were to hike Iron Mountain on an early Saturday morning, you’d run a good chance of running into me! Animals have fascinated me ever since my days of listening to bedtime stories about misfit hyenas and self-conscious snakes. As I’ve gotten older, so many of my likes and dislikes have changed, but my love for wildlife has always remained constant (my Netflix queue is proof enough of that!) I truly believe that the road to a better future for the planet starts with recognizing and respecting the roles of wildlife in our ecosystems. Along with my passion for the environment and wildlife, I have a lot of love for music. Listening to my massive music collection of everything from John Denver to the London Philharmonic Orchestra never fails to put me in a good mood, and there’s nothing l can compare to the rush of playing music (when I hit the right notes and stay on rhythm of course!) In my spare time at home, I can usually be found plucking a banjo, trying to figure out why my cello is out of tune for the third time in a day, or curling up with one of my cats and a nice episode of “72 Dangerous Animals: Australia.” Well, folks, that’s about all for now! I hope that this post helped you to get to know me a bit better, and I can’t wait to send many more blogs and updates your way as this internship progresses. Your enthusiastic intern, Allison Winter Session, 2018