LINK Description -
LINK internship is a three week internship at that Animas High School juniors take part in during the first three weeks of May. Students do not attend school during these three weeks so they have the opportunity to experience what working a full time job (30-40 hours per week) is like and get a taste of what life will be like outside of school. For my LINK internship I worked and trained to be an employee at the Fish Connection pet store here in Durango, Colorado. This internship was an amazing opportunity for me to see what it would be like to turn my hobby into a career. Much of the work involved cleaning and maintenance of rodent and reptile cages as well as daily feeding, watering and providing life support for each individual animal in the store. Customer service was another major part of my internship, asking customers if they needed assistance with finding products in the store or getting feeder crickets and mice was part of my daily routine.
I wanted to go to the Fish Connection because I was interested in learning more about caring for reptiles and other pets. I have had geckos, frogs and snakes as pets since I was little, and I am also interested in biology so Fish Connection seemed like the perfect internship for me. I began the process of securing my LINK internship by having a conversation with the owner Bruce, who I already knew since I was a customer there. Bruce was on board, so I gave him a proposal of what I wanted to learn and it was secured from there.
The first week of my internship I spent learning from my mentor with 3 younger interns. I already knew a lot about caring for the animals, as a pet owner. After the first week, I acted as a mentor to the 3 other interns, who were in 8th and 9th grade. I lead the interns though the store "chores" and "life-support" for the animals. I would guide the interns through feeding and watering the animals. In addition to my work with the younger interns, for my project I built a palluderium- a naturalistic vivarium. It is especially a large terbium, but with running water in it. I gutted and cleaned a used 55 gal, aquarium. I used PVC to make a water drip system attached to a pump, it has a full foam and wood background. I planted moss, and will begin to add guppies and orchids. I have made similar things before, out of picture frames, glass, and plants, but this is the biggest one. "It's huge".
Going into LINK, I brought strong people/social skills that were useful for marketing. I was unafraid to approach people and talk to them to try to help satisfy their needs. While I was at LINK, I was a leader for the other 3 interns. Being a leader and developing leadership skills was new for me. I liked being a leader, because I could delegate the work to other people. Being a leader also gave me a new perspective on working in a group. At school in group work, I don't take the leadership role. Acting as a leader in a field I am interested and knowledgeable in will make it easier for me to be more of a leader in the future.
For the most part, my LINK was did not pose many challenges. However, there was this one intern that I was "managing". He was the youngest intern there and was homeschooled. He was uncertain about what to do and was always looking for confirmation on even the simplest tasks. If you gave him a job, he would do it, but you would have to seek him out to give him the next job. He had very little initiative. This was irritating when it was busy and he was just standing around. He would get on my nerves sometimes because he was a bit odd- but still a nice little kid. Another thing I had to get used to was multitasking at a quick pace. I had to be able to do one task, drop it, jump over to another task that is important, and then help a customer before getting back to what I was doing. The most stressful thing I had to do was when my mentor, Bruce accidentally left a hose on in a tank, and I found it overflowing, and almost flooding the whole store. I had to contain the the mess and keep it from spreading. Overall, I had few challenges on my LINK and a high tolerance anything that did arise.
Fish Connection should take more LINK interns because they can get a free employee, and an extra pair of hands to keep things running smoothly.
Going into my internship I was particularly interested in learning about aquatic plants and maintaining a terrarium for plants. I approached my internship, with the idea of turing my experience at Fish Connection into a job or career. As I hoped, my training and experience at LINK at Fish Connection will turn into a summer job for me. Fish Connection gave me the opportunity to see what it would be like to turn my hobbies into a job. I am going to work there this summer, part-time. I would defiantly like to pursue something with tropical biology and plants as a career, like growing orchids, or a flower shop.
Ever since I was a young kid I have been intrigued by reptiles and amphibians, in second second grade I bought my first gecko and he kickstarted my interests as a reptile hobbyists. I am so glad I was able to do LINK at Fish Connection, to pursue my passions.
I wanted to go to the Fish Connection because I was interested in learning more about caring for reptiles and other pets. I have had geckos, frogs and snakes as pets since I was little, and I am also interested in biology so Fish Connection seemed like the perfect internship for me. I began the process of securing my LINK internship by having a conversation with the owner Bruce, who I already knew since I was a customer there. Bruce was on board, so I gave him a proposal of what I wanted to learn and it was secured from there.
The first week of my internship I spent learning from my mentor with 3 younger interns. I already knew a lot about caring for the animals, as a pet owner. After the first week, I acted as a mentor to the 3 other interns, who were in 8th and 9th grade. I lead the interns though the store "chores" and "life-support" for the animals. I would guide the interns through feeding and watering the animals. In addition to my work with the younger interns, for my project I built a palluderium- a naturalistic vivarium. It is especially a large terbium, but with running water in it. I gutted and cleaned a used 55 gal, aquarium. I used PVC to make a water drip system attached to a pump, it has a full foam and wood background. I planted moss, and will begin to add guppies and orchids. I have made similar things before, out of picture frames, glass, and plants, but this is the biggest one. "It's huge".
Going into LINK, I brought strong people/social skills that were useful for marketing. I was unafraid to approach people and talk to them to try to help satisfy their needs. While I was at LINK, I was a leader for the other 3 interns. Being a leader and developing leadership skills was new for me. I liked being a leader, because I could delegate the work to other people. Being a leader also gave me a new perspective on working in a group. At school in group work, I don't take the leadership role. Acting as a leader in a field I am interested and knowledgeable in will make it easier for me to be more of a leader in the future.
For the most part, my LINK was did not pose many challenges. However, there was this one intern that I was "managing". He was the youngest intern there and was homeschooled. He was uncertain about what to do and was always looking for confirmation on even the simplest tasks. If you gave him a job, he would do it, but you would have to seek him out to give him the next job. He had very little initiative. This was irritating when it was busy and he was just standing around. He would get on my nerves sometimes because he was a bit odd- but still a nice little kid. Another thing I had to get used to was multitasking at a quick pace. I had to be able to do one task, drop it, jump over to another task that is important, and then help a customer before getting back to what I was doing. The most stressful thing I had to do was when my mentor, Bruce accidentally left a hose on in a tank, and I found it overflowing, and almost flooding the whole store. I had to contain the the mess and keep it from spreading. Overall, I had few challenges on my LINK and a high tolerance anything that did arise.
Fish Connection should take more LINK interns because they can get a free employee, and an extra pair of hands to keep things running smoothly.
Going into my internship I was particularly interested in learning about aquatic plants and maintaining a terrarium for plants. I approached my internship, with the idea of turing my experience at Fish Connection into a job or career. As I hoped, my training and experience at LINK at Fish Connection will turn into a summer job for me. Fish Connection gave me the opportunity to see what it would be like to turn my hobbies into a job. I am going to work there this summer, part-time. I would defiantly like to pursue something with tropical biology and plants as a career, like growing orchids, or a flower shop.
Ever since I was a young kid I have been intrigued by reptiles and amphibians, in second second grade I bought my first gecko and he kickstarted my interests as a reptile hobbyists. I am so glad I was able to do LINK at Fish Connection, to pursue my passions.