Words are a powerful tool that over the years have caused me happiness, pain, misery, anger, and every other emotion imaginable. As a child, my love for words developed through reading. I loved to read. I would read everything from billboard signs to my older brother’s chapter books. My next major encounter with words was writing. I struggled with writing and have never felt confident in my abilities. Due to this obstacle, I went through phases where words felt more like a hassle than a useful tool. Although I still struggle with confidence in my writing, I have learned that my voice is my strongest use of words. My voice ties emotion into each word I decide to say. Through this revelation, I realized that I am an educator.

Voice and action are my guide to helping teach people about the things I have learned and am passionate about. There were many experiences throughout my life that lead me to this revelation. When I was thirteen, I began volunteering at my local zoo in their Education Department. Throughout my five years as a Zooteen, I flourished. Other Zooteens looked up to me and sought out my advice to become better volunteers. I was often asked to lead projects and teach others the information I had learned about the animals or conservation that we wanted the public to be informed about. The immense support I received over my time there was the beginning of my realization that my niche could be in education.

Animals and conservation are a deep passion of mine that others tell me is obvious when they hear me talk. This passion was fostered through my volunteering, which led me to search for a way to continue to be exposed to animals and conservation while in college. As fate would have it, I ended up with a Camp-In Instructor job at Columbus Zoo where I get to teach various programs and lead hikes around the zoo. Through this experience, I have realized that I desire to inspire change in people. I want people to learn from me the importance of taking care of the earth and species other than humans. At this point in my life, I want to write educational programs for a zoo, so that they can inform others of current issues with animal populations and conservation efforts.

With the idea of writing programs for a zoo’s education department, I decided to declare Education as my minor. Even though most of the people in the education realm want to become schoolteachers, I dare to be different. Never have I met anyone who wants to combine animals and education. Since I love both, why can’t I combine them? The few courses I have taken so far have strengthened my understanding of the importance of education. Without knowledge, people are powerless. Education is something everybody seeks but is not seen as a strong profession. Despite the obstacles, I see the importance, and I can thank all of my dedicated teachers for making me realize how lucky I have been. All of my volunteer work led me to this point in my life where I want to be the person who makes a conscious effort to bring forward change.

On a whim, I decided to apply to be a content writer for The Ohio State branch of Odyssey. Reading the articles of other Odyssey Creators inspired me to apply. If other college students are putting their voices out there, why am I not doing the same? My intent was to use this forum as a way to inspire change. As much as I prefer to use my voice, the Internet is becoming one of the most powerful ways to reach people. During my interview, I realized how much I want to write about zoos and animals, which are things that are lacking on Odyssey. Personally, I have been struggling with how I want to present this information to people without turning them away. I have not currently published any pieces pertaining to my intended cause but I have a few in the process. Crafting words to work in influential ways is a skill I feel I still need to improve upon before I publish my zoo pieces.

This summer, I have found myself working as an Elephant Intern away from home. Adapting to a new place and a manual labor job has been a trying time for me. I am falling in love with the elephants and as shocking as this sounds, they are teaching me the importance of education. As I become attached to these beautiful animals, I want to protect them stronger than I knew was possible. Whenever I am answering questions for the public, I realize how much my knowledge has expanded over the short time I have been at my internship. The amazement and curiosity of the people proves to me that there is a group of people who want to hear my words and learn from my education.