CPR, marketing endeavors, and playing with snakes

Hi, welcome to my new blog. I will say nothing sentimental nor anything eloquent about "this is a blog about blah blah blah me me me blah blah blah journey of life." I'm just going to jump into things, feel free to follow along the best that you can. :)

Recently I became the marketing intern for a new company called Homeschool Leadership Retreats. The name is pretty self-explanatory: they design leadership retreats for homeschoolers and unschoolers ages 13-19 with a variety of different focuses, fostering independence and showing teens and young adults how to get out in their community and start building their futures and accomplishing their dreams. This, of course, fits in very well with my passion for autodidacticism and “Life Without College,” and I find the challenge of marketing exhilarating.

Recently I took a certification course for First Aid and CPR through the Red Cross, and that was very interesting. Though at this time I am choosing not to pursue their related fields professionally, health, emergency medical procedures, and the human body fascinate me nonetheless. I enjoy every opportunity in which I am able to learn more about these things. In the future I am interested in pursuing it further and getting my Wilderness First Responder certification.

Probably the most rewarding thing I am doing right now is volunteering with Piedmont Wildlife Center. I do a variety of things – basically, I am their slave. But surely they’ve never had such a willing one! Among other things, I feed the animals, clean cages, make signs, move things around, conduct research, make contact lists, alphabetize things, help with camps, and go to events with the program animals to promote the center and educate the public on our wildlife. In my spare time I cuddle with the snakes. I am having the time of my life.

But you may be wondering: what is all this for? Do I have a point? Am I trying to accomplish something? Don’t I need a career eventually? Is this all I am doing?

My “dream” consists of three main desires: to be in some way, shape, or form, an animal behaviorist, a naturalist, and/or an ethologist. My only preference is that I actually get paid to do these things; and I am determined to get the experience necessary for these types of jobs in other places besides just a classroom. I am taking my first steps now, and have many more steps planned in the near future. A bonus is that, all the while, I am enjoying myself right where I am. And, subsequently, right where I am is only affirming where I want to go in the future, which is a reward in and of itself.