Interview (Part 1)
Over the past few days I got to know my mentor and the Safari Park a lot better. To learn more about my mentors and their jobs I asked them a few questions over the course of three days. These are the paraphrased responses I got from them:
* What is your mentor's job title and what are your main duties and responsibilities?
- My mentor is one of the few leads in the Horticulture department at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. Her team is mainly in charge of the more labor intensive aspect of landscaping the park. My mentor's team is responsible for the lower regions of the park and the side areas. The park is split into multiple regions for different teams to focus on so that one person isn't overloaded with a ton of work. In their individual regions my mentor and her team members take care of weeds, invasive plants, replanting, cleaning and also new projects and additions to their areas of the park.
* How did you end up doing the job that you do?
- My mentor started out in a junior level job when he was at the park. He operated the old monorail system that was used to show tourists around the large animal field at the Safari Park. After doing this for a few years he decided to try something new. He enjoyed the outdoors and working near, animals. However, he didn't want to be the man cleaning up after them. He was then offered a job at the Horticulture department taking care of the plants, and he loves it. He enjoys the fact that he is always around some sort of animal and that he is always outdoors.
* Do you consider a career in this area satisfying? And if so in what ways?
- He really enjoys what he does, "When you enjoy what you do that is all you need to satisfy yourself". My mentor loves being outdoors and near the animals, he is also able to successfully support his family and himself and that is great.
* What is the typical work day like here?
- "So typically, we come to work at 6am, change into our uniforms and meet our teams in the office. We then discuss what our weekly schedule is, if it is a Monday, or we discuss what we will be doing that day. Then we grab our tools, snacks and anything else we might need for the day and head over to our designated areas of the park. We work till 9am, and then get our first 15 minute break (we have two 15 minute breaks in the day). Our lunch time is 10:30am and we have a thirty minute lunch. We then have another 15 minute break at around 1pm. In between the breaks and lunch we work on our tasks and then meet at the end of the day for a daily de-brief. Then the team heads home at around 2:30pm."
Over the past few days I got to know my mentor and the Safari Park a lot better. To learn more about my mentors and their jobs I asked them a few questions over the course of three days. These are the paraphrased responses I got from them:
* What is your mentor's job title and what are your main duties and responsibilities?
- My mentor is one of the few leads in the Horticulture department at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. Her team is mainly in charge of the more labor intensive aspect of landscaping the park. My mentor's team is responsible for the lower regions of the park and the side areas. The park is split into multiple regions for different teams to focus on so that one person isn't overloaded with a ton of work. In their individual regions my mentor and her team members take care of weeds, invasive plants, replanting, cleaning and also new projects and additions to their areas of the park.
* How did you end up doing the job that you do?
- My mentor started out in a junior level job when he was at the park. He operated the old monorail system that was used to show tourists around the large animal field at the Safari Park. After doing this for a few years he decided to try something new. He enjoyed the outdoors and working near, animals. However, he didn't want to be the man cleaning up after them. He was then offered a job at the Horticulture department taking care of the plants, and he loves it. He enjoys the fact that he is always around some sort of animal and that he is always outdoors.
* Do you consider a career in this area satisfying? And if so in what ways?
- He really enjoys what he does, "When you enjoy what you do that is all you need to satisfy yourself". My mentor loves being outdoors and near the animals, he is also able to successfully support his family and himself and that is great.
* What is the typical work day like here?
- "So typically, we come to work at 6am, change into our uniforms and meet our teams in the office. We then discuss what our weekly schedule is, if it is a Monday, or we discuss what we will be doing that day. Then we grab our tools, snacks and anything else we might need for the day and head over to our designated areas of the park. We work till 9am, and then get our first 15 minute break (we have two 15 minute breaks in the day). Our lunch time is 10:30am and we have a thirty minute lunch. We then have another 15 minute break at around 1pm. In between the breaks and lunch we work on our tasks and then meet at the end of the day for a daily de-brief. Then the team heads home at around 2:30pm."
Reflection (Part 2)
* How are you getting to and from internship? What's it like to be commuting?
- When I first signed up for this internship I was a little worried. I was told that I had to arrive to my internship at 6am and and be there at least 15 minutes early. I immediately was hesitant about accepting the internship because I like to sleep. On the first day however I was too excited to feel the sleep. I woke up that day at around 4:50am and got to the park at around 5:55am and couldn't wait to start. I was really excited and had lots of fun. I think as the days go on I will get more comfortable with the timings but so far it has been good, because I have been looking forward to every day. The drive honestly is not that bad. It takes me between 15 to 20 minutes to arrive with absolutely no traffic. The drive home however is a little less interesting because first of all I'm leaving the park, which is pretty sad, and secondly I always feel somewhat sleepy on that drive home. Otherwise everything is good and I can't wait for the next three weeks!
* How are you getting to and from internship? What's it like to be commuting?
- When I first signed up for this internship I was a little worried. I was told that I had to arrive to my internship at 6am and and be there at least 15 minutes early. I immediately was hesitant about accepting the internship because I like to sleep. On the first day however I was too excited to feel the sleep. I woke up that day at around 4:50am and got to the park at around 5:55am and couldn't wait to start. I was really excited and had lots of fun. I think as the days go on I will get more comfortable with the timings but so far it has been good, because I have been looking forward to every day. The drive honestly is not that bad. It takes me between 15 to 20 minutes to arrive with absolutely no traffic. The drive home however is a little less interesting because first of all I'm leaving the park, which is pretty sad, and secondly I always feel somewhat sleepy on that drive home. Otherwise everything is good and I can't wait for the next three weeks!