I've always had a love for animals so much so that I convinced my mother to let me become a vegetarian at age nine. From there I knew I had a special connection with animals and wanted to care for them. I took in all kinds of animals growing up and progressed further when I was fifteen and applied to an internship at the Philadelphia Zoo. Only a handful of us received this opportunity out of 200 applicants. This internship lasted three years and taught me a wealth of information about how to care for different animals. During college I volunteered at different animal shelters and personally pet sit family and friends' animals. My most recent job was an Animal Keeper at the Bergen County Zoo, where I continued learning about how to care for animals and what they need to thrive.