I love myself right now

Spaghetti · 03-10-12, 01:34 AM

So, I went to visit my mother for a week, and I brought my snakes along because my neighbor who normally watches them was out of town (I only brought the snakes that were due for feeding during that week, and of course, Giovanni, because he needed to be medicated). While I was in my hometown, I volunteered at the local elementary school I attended (I always do this, the teachers I had when I was young still work there). Everyone in this small town knows that I keep herps, and that I brought some to mom's house, and currently the whole school was studying the rainforest. I was asked if I would bring in some of my animals for the kids, and so I picked Jack, my male BCI that does not stress easily and came to the school to teach the kids.

I only brought him to one (sometimes two) classrooms a day, to keep his stress to a minimum. I lectured the kids on how the windpipe of a snake is on the bottom of its mouth, what it means to be cold-blooded, etc. The kids had a blast, the teachers loved the opportunity it provided (I did it for free).

Afterwards, the principal mentioned that normally reptile educators charge a pretty penny, and that I should look into this as a part-time job (I'm in college right now). I'm toying with the idea...though, if I was going to do that I'd have to get more herps. Never a bad thing, hahaha!

I dunno if I'd ever actually try to do that...all herps are different in the amount stress they can tolerate. But when I was talking to those kids about reptiles, I just felt so good. It was so natural to me, I'm not shy about public speaking, and I love working with kids, their faces light up when they learn something new. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good, and I'd thought I'd share it with you guys

As for updates: Jack, the snake I brought to the kids is happy and just ate a big ol' rat. Giovanni had his final shot of baytril today, the clicking is gone, but I finished the antibiotic course just in case. All in all, everything's great

drama x · 03-10-12, 03:38 AM

Thats awesome! Id love to do that one day. Educating people about snakes and helping them get over their fear of them is my first priority when it comes to my hobby. Kids and people need to learn how amazing these creatures are and how harmless they can be. Congrats to you for making some kids very happy!

marvelfreak · 03-10-12, 05:35 AM

Good job. I always love talking about snakes and educating people about them.

alessia55 · 03-10-12, 08:35 AM

That's great! Sounds like you were well received. It's always important to educate the public, and the youth too. Good job

jarich · 03-10-12, 09:52 AM

Thats great, you should talk to Jerry, I think his handle here is Ssnakes. That's what he does full time. He has a number of programs set up for kids and would be a great resource in that way. Im sure he could be very helpful (as long as you're not gonna be competition in NY state that is!) I hope this is allowed, his website is jerrythesnakeman.com

Spaghetti · 03-10-12, 07:41 PM

Thanks everyone! I certainly had a lot of fun. Sometimes I wonder why I'm getting a degree in political science instead of something like zoology. It was an absolute dream and I was asked by several teachers if I would be willing to do it again. Of course I gave them a wholehearted "YES!"

News travels quickly when it comes to schools in this area, so who knows, maybe I could turn this into a part-time gig. I'll contact the individual you mentioned and see what he has to say. I'm in Michigan, so I wouldn't be stepping into his territory, lol

mykee · 03-10-12, 09:19 PM

I love myself roughly once a day.

Spaghetti · 03-10-12, 09:44 PM

Haha, I didn't even think about the connotation of my thread title until I saw your post