Oh the Places You'll Go: Sweet Home Alabama

It has been nearly two years since I last sat down and wrote about my adventures abroad. Two years seems like such a long time, and I wish that I continued sharing my adventures while back in the states. I have since graduated from UVM with a B.S in Zoology, and have moved to Alabama for a new job. I am really enjoying myself, so I will share a bit about my time in Alabama so far.

I moved to a small town called Columbiana, located about an hour south of Birmingham. I work at the Alabama 4H Science School as an environmental educator. My dad drove down with me after graduation in May, and we spent a great two days on the road together. He helped me move in and get settled, but saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest goodbyes I've ever had. We both cried, and I remember calling my mom after dropping him off at the hotel because I was too sad to drive home without talking to someone.

My first day of training was really exciting. I remember being introduced (very briefly) to the other EE staff and camp counselors when I first arrived the day before, but the first day I actually needed to get to know everyone. There were six EE staff (myself, Brittany, Chelsea, Will, Justin, and Ryan), as well as eight camp counselors (Brendan, Braxton, Jacob, Caleb, Mabrey, Grace, Tori, and Bailey). The first three or so days of my training consisted of me assisting with lifeguard training for everyone else. I got trained earlier in the winter to make sure I would be all caught-up, since I arrived late. After we learned about high ropes, campfire songs, sports nights, and knot tying. It was a brief training, but we made it through and then before we knew it, summer camp started at the beginning of June.

Each session of camp is three days. Kids arrive Monday morning and then leave Wednesday after breakfast. Wednesday morning we would get another batch of kids and they would stay through Friday after breakfast. It was a long week, but so much fun. We taught a bunch of nifty classes for summer camp, including climbing wall, giant swing, survivor, Alabama the Great, canoeing, archery, sports, paddle boarding, and swimming. I really enjoyed summer camp, and it was a great introduction to the job. Camp only lasted through the end of June, and then all of the counselors left. The rest of the summer involved mostly projects around camp, but those projects helped me learn some of the science classes we would be teaching during science school in the fall. We also had many conference center groups come in where we would work with them on Team Initiatives (TI) and challenge course. I really enjoy doing those activities, especially with adult groups.

Me and some of the staff after TI / challenge course training in
the pouring rain!

This summer I was also given a lot of animal care time. The Al4HSS has a fantastic animal collection made up of reptiles, amphibians, and birds of prey. We have 19 birds of prey (which I LOVE), and I believe over 100 herps. I'm getting a lot better at working with the snakes, and I'm starting to enjoy it a lot more than I thought initially. I've also been given a lot of opportunities to go on off-sites, where we bring some of our animals to groups all over Alabama. I've seen some really neat parts of the state, even the University of Alabama main campus in Tuscaloosa. I'm learning a tremendous amount from my supervisors, especially when it comes to animal care. The birds of prey are absolutely my favorite. I'm becoming a stronger handler every chance I get to work with them, and I'm overcoming my (slight) fear of our Great-horned Owl, Catalina (who honestly isn't even scary).

This is Roosevelt, a Barred Owl. She was hit by a car some time ago,
which unfortunately left her with some injuries in her foot and one
of her eyes. As a result, she is non-releasable.

This is Uno, one of our Eastern Screech Owls! She is 16-years old,
which is nearly triple the wild lifespan of these birds. We have Uno because
she was also hit by a car, and lost one of her eyes as a result.

These are our two baby alligators, Cricket and Bubbles!

Fall training started in August, where we learned all of our sciences classes that are taught during science school in the fall and spring. Science school groups come to the center and can stay for up to three days. We teach a wide variety of science classes (in addition to the adventure classes mentioned earlier), including: ornithology, ichthyology, herpetology, entomology, forest ecology, water ecology, macro-invertebrate studies, water quality, team navigation, astronomy, and survival skills. Two new educators were hired (Sarah and Emily), who we love so much.

The solar eclipse happened during training!

We built a shelter during our Survivor class.

This past week was our first two science school groups. I had so much fun teaching and getting to know so many great kids. I'm beginning to pick up on some of the classes, and I'm excited for the season to get underway!

Teaching Friends of a Feather (ornithology) with our
American Kestrel, Emily.

Some things I'm excited for this season:
- Continue to get to know our new staff members
- Learn and teach with all of the amazing children that will be coming to the center
- Continue working on my animal handling skills, particularly with the raptors
- Going on some more hikes in the Birmingham area
- Watching football every Sunday with everyone
- Our staff trip to Savannah, GA in December
- Explore new parts of the state
- Experiencing my first cotton bloom

So that's all I can think of for now. Below are some more pictures from my time in Alabama so far!