56 Rolls
760 Hours
Inspiration
My mother always said, “Duck Tape is a woman’s best friend”. And I believe that to be true.
She has accompanied me through every arduous backpacking mile. A silent friend wrapped around my water bottles, quietly waiting to help in times of need. She has protected every blister before it starts, patched every boot whose threads had unwound, and mended every rip in my rain gear that had caught on a thorny bush. When wrapped around my hiking poles, my ol’ friend even stood between a black bear and me on the West Coast Trail….a true friend indeed! But she evolved to represent much more than a trusty backpacking friend. She helped me create an image in a dress that symbolized the passion, morals, and ethics of who I am becoming. Someone shaped by the outdoors, whose respect for the natural world and the creatures within it has become a driving force.
Growing up on a farm, I always loved animals, and so did my ol’ friend. She helped me attach toothpick splints to broken chicken legs and saved me from a sewing job when the baby Nigerian goat diapers were too big. I loved peeking into the owl boxes in the spring to see the baby balls of fluff, but it was my ol’ friend who kept them from getting wet by waterproofing their boxes. I loved listening to the talking frogs at sunset on my back porch and watching the Red-Wing Blackbirds dive into the pond’s cattails at dusk. Watching the Mallards set their wings and how they could dodge all the willow branches as they would land in our pond was always a treat. I grew up doing my homework on the back porch with the music of swallows singing in the bamboo. Animals gave me comfort.
I pursued that comfort with volunteer opportunities at the World Center for Birds of Prey and Zoo Boise. These public education programs opened my eyes to the many problems facing animals today. I wanted to help, but didn’t yet know how.
I decided to expand my understanding of animals by job shadowing local veterinarians. There, I learned how domestic animals were treated when sick. But I was still curious about who cared for the wild animals when they were sick or injured?
This curiosity led to much research and concluded with me aiming towards becoming a wildlife veterinarian. The requirements of a Doctorate in Wildlife Biology and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine made it clear that this was not going to be an easy task. I buckled down and put my mind to it. That hard work has allowed me to graduate as valedictorian, two years early, and with an associate’s degree in biology to give myself a head start on this long educational journey. This was my comfort, my passion, and I felt compelled to help the sick and injured wild animals who could not help themselves.
Animals like the endangered scarlet macaw, with less than 1,000 left in Central America, have gone extinct in parts of Mexico. Their livelihood is threatened by deforestation and illegal pet trade. I want to be the wildlife veterinarian who can help by checking their wild nests to manage parasite infections and provide care to neglected chicks. I would relocate chicks who are at risk of being stolen to conservation centers until they are old enough to be released. As a wildlife veterinarian, I would treat sick or injured adult macaws confiscated from the illegal pet trade, rehabilitate them, and train them to avoid humans before releasing them back into the wild. I would also conduct field monitoring by taking samples of blood, feathers, and swabs to detect diseases that threaten the population. Finally, I would monitor if the released birds were adapting and surviving.
This life journey comes from the heart. It is not one of prestige or fortune, and I know I will be facing an uphill battle most of the time. But when a passion runs deep, and the heart is full of love and compassion, I believe it is a journey worth taking. I want to make a difference…one macaw at a time.
So, thank you, ol’ friend, for being there in times of need and helping me to create an empowering symbol that I can take forward with me on my journey. I look forward to many more adventures together.