Goals to Accomplish During My Internship

My Goals- Personal and Professional:

My main goal is to learn the processes that contribute to a successful marine park. I hope to gain insight into running a facility, along with caring for the animals and maintaining enclosures. I am also interested in learning the different behaviors that marine mammals exhibit and the way in which they adapt to living in the facility. I am excited to observe the training of dolphins by means of reinforcement, bridges, discriminative stimulus, and least reinforcing stimulus. Dolphin training is one of the many skills I hope to acquire from working with the marine trainers.

While I love learning and acquiring new skills in my field, I find it much more fulfilling to share the knowledge with others. I would like raise awareness on environmental issues in my community and instruct others on how to improve the conditions of our oceans and the surrounding areas. Through my internship, I hope to share my passion for marine life with visitors and inspire them to become not only more aware of marine life but more active in the preservation of our oceans and its inhabitants.

Another goal of mine is to network. Through networking, I will meet others who share my enthusiasm for marine life. I hope to meet as many people in the field as possible—people that I can both learn from and teach. Since these new people will be potential business partners, I look forward to the opportunity to share ideas.

Lastly, I would like to experience personally the cultural differences between Americans and Australians. As an American, I automatically picture the stereotypical “Aussie.” Do they really eat shrimp on the “Barbie”? Do they all act like crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin? Probably not. After doing a little research, I discovered that Australians work to live, while Americans live to work. Their cuisine is also quite different from that of Americans. They enjoy a paste made from yeast extract called vegemite, and I am excited to try it on my toast. Aussie lingo and conversational mannerisms are also very different from American culture. Certain words in the American language that are hurtful or rude are considered playful slang terms in Australian culture. These are just a few differences in the culture, and I am sure I will experience many more. Adjusting to these cultural differences may prove challenging, but I look forward to immersing myself in a new culture. My internship abroad is not only a learning experience advantageous to my career path, but a worthwhile opportunity contributing to my inner growth.