This was the experience of a lifetime!  I was fortunate enough to spend a month in the amazing country of South Africa on a Conservation Medicine Study Abroad.

Elephant on Patrol

We spent a day in London on our way over and it was incredible.  We got a behind the scenes tour of the London Zoo by one of the veterinarians.  We got to see the hospital and feed some adorable baby meerkats who were staying there.  The Zoological Society of London seems like an awesome organization to work for.  They have three different areas veterinarians can work in - the London Zoo, the Whipsnade Zoo, and in their Conservation Department doing cool field work.

Then we got to go around the zoo and just enjoy ourselves.  The London Zoo was the first zoo to abbreviate zoological gardens to the now common 'zoo' and it was so fun to see modern exhibits in old historical buildings.  Plus we got to see where the Harry Potter snake scene was filmed so that was awesome!
We also got to spend some time going around London before having to leave the next night for Africa.  London was beautiful.  It was so amazing to see the place I have studied in so many history classes.  Again the juxtaposition of modern with historical structures was just incredible.  The London Eye and our tour on top of a double deck bus were definitely my favorite parts.  It also happened to be the Opening of Parliament so we got to see the Queen drive by in her carriage and snap a few photos of her.  It felt very touristy but it was great.
We finally arrived in Africa and you could feel the excitement in the air.  This is what we had come for.  Dr. Peter Brothers from Brothers Safari's came to pick us up with my man Winston. He took us to stay at the beautiful Safari Lodge on the Amakhala Game Reserve.  The story behind Amakhala is pretty cool.  The land originally belonged to seven ranching families who decided that instead of cattle ranching, they would combine their land and work together to help preserve South Africa's beautiful game species.  For each 50 hectares a family contributed, they would be allowed to put one bed in their lodge so that each family's potential for tourists would correspond to what they gave.  The reserve is beautiful and it is staffed by some incredible people.

We spent the first few days going on game drives and studying.  The game drives were incredible. There are no words for seeing your favorite animals out in the wild.  It's breathtaking.  And our studies were also incredible.  We were taught primarily by Dr. Brothers but we were also fortunate enough to have Dr. Peter Buss from Kruger National Park come down to teach us Immobilization Pharmacology.  We even got to practice darting! These men are my heroes and I hope to be like them someday.
We also got the chance to go on a game drive on the beautiful Addo Elephant National Park.  The history behind this park is also pretty cool.  The area around Addo is full of citrus trees, so naturally Elephants would help themselves to their fruit.  But in the 1930's, people were not too fond of that. So they organized a hunt and killed all the elephants in the area except for 24.  Thankfully at that point, they stopped the slaughter and protected the area that would become Addo.  Because of the inbreeding that occurred there, the female elephants of Addo stopped growing tusks.  To combat this, SAN Parks brought in some big bulls from Kruger to reintroduce lost genes and now half the cows are sporting tusks.  This place was beautiful and it was so much fun to see so many elephants in one place.
After Addo we also visited the Born Free Foundation at the Shamwari Game Reserve.  The goal of Born Free is to rescue animals from bad zoos and circuses and release them back to the wild.  Some of these animals are not releasable so they stay at the facilities Born Free manages.  It was cool to see the animals, but I felt that in some of the cases with bad medical conditions, money spent on the conservation of their wild cousins would probably have a better effect.  But it was still cool for sure.
One of my favorite excursions was to Port Elizabeth where we got to go out on Algoa Bay with a group of scientists studying the endangered African Penguin.  Two of them were going to be staying on St. Croix Island for two weeks to study the largest rookery of these penguins and the effects the fishing industry on their breeding.  The ride over was magnificent.  We saw whales and dolphins and all sorts of cool birds.  St. Croix was beautiful. Pods of dolphins swam in its breaking waves and so many penguins hopped all around its rocks.  Getting the gear off the boat was a little tricky with the waves and the sharp rocks, but our captain managed to accomplish it.  When we drove off, it was impressive to me just how dedicated scientists are.  Those two were left on an island with only what they brought, planning on living in the little hut the team built years ago.
After a week or so learning to identify the various game species, learning about their biology, and learning about the pharmacology and techniques it takes to immobilize them, we were ready for our first immobilization, but you'll have to stay tuned for that!

Tilikum - Man He Looks Great!

I work at Utah's Hogle Zoo - an incredible zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.  I love it.  Some days like today I wake up completely overwhelmed with how lucky I am.  I'm part of the Visual Arts and Visitor Experience Department.  There is an entire department in our zoo devoted to your experience as a guest.  Just think about that for a second.  As an Eco-Explorer, my job is to teach you about animals and inspire you to care about them.  My ultimate goal is to show you what you can do to help save these animals.  It doesn't matter where you are in the park:  I've got some info for you.  I'll tell you all about who's who and what we are doing to save them here at the zoo and with organizations in the wild.

Love Elephants & Rhinos?  Check out the International Elephant and Rhino Foundations.  Learn about poaching and how it is the number one threat to these magnificent animals. Make donations and be a conscious consumer so that these animals are never harmed by your purchases.  How about the cats of the Asian Highlands like the Amur Leopard and Tiger or the Snow Leopard?  We work with the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance and the Snow Leopard Trust to protect these endangered animals.  We have some of the best breeding programs for these species and are an active contributor to their Species Survival Plans.  What about Polar Bears?  Rizzo is a favorite here and we are trained by Polar Bears International to teach you about the plight of vanishing polar ice and the simple things you can do to help save the ice and the polar bears that call it home.  We make donations to the Marine Mammal Care Center  and the Marine Mammal Center in California - the two organizations that rescued and rehabilitated our California Sea Lions Rocky & Maverick after being injured in the wild.  We also work with the Niassa Lion Project - a great group promoting coexistence in Africa with the kings of the Savannah.

But my love for my job doesn't end simply with what I do and what I get to teach.  It extends to the people I work with.  I love them.  My fellow Eco-Explorers amaze me with their enthusiasm for conservation and their love for people.  They are like a second family to me.  Sometimes I get to listen to them teach and am amazed with their teaching ability and can't wait to use some of their techniques the next time I get to teach you.  My boss is an incredible woman with a passion for interpretation and conservation who has been paving the way for climate change interpretation around the country.

I also get to work with the keepers at the zoo.  They gave my study group at veterinary school some amazing experiences when we came during spring break. One of them is trying to help me land an internship with a veterinarian at a marine mark and has taught us some basics in training our seals.  Another of them is also a veterinary technician who gave me a bunch of books before starting veterinary school.  I worked with another one as a lifeguard when we were younger and we still joke about using the others towels - even if it does confuse the rest of the keepers.  Another keeper has worked to help another Eco get internships at other facilities.  And yet another keeper has given me experiences with our animals that I will never forget. I didn't get to mention all of them here, but all of them truly have inspired me.  Their backgrounds are varied and impressive.  Their knowledge and care for conservation is vast and inspiring.  I'm a better person every day I get to work with them.

Sometimes I also get to work with the veterinarians and veterinary technicians at the zoo.  They are an incredible team that has been so encouraging in my pursuit of veterinary education and my pursuit of working in zoos and aquaria.  I light up every time I hear the hospital calling on the radio and every time I see them in the park.  They are the veterinarians I most want to be like.

I hope this give you a taste of what is like to work at a zoo.  It's all about the animals - that's what has brought us all here and why we all work tirelessly for their conservation, care, and protection.  But it is also about the people.  Zoos have some of the best people in the world - people that are qualified and capable of doing anything they want to but that choose to work here because they want to make a difference.

So go to the zoo.  There are people there ready to make your day.  There are people there to show you how to make a difference.  There are people there making a difference for this world like no where else. But you won't find people anywhere else that care more for animals and conservation than those who staff zoos and aquaria. So find your nearest accredited zoo or aquarium and go today.  I promise you'll love it.

The Crew at The Perot Museum of Science and Nature

The next section contained a few skeletons and skulls.  I didn't take too many pictures since they were domestic species I see all the time in lab but probably should have.  Their was also a human skeleton and we came to the conclusion that people have weird scapulas.  
I was most impressed with the preparation of the circulatory systems.  We asked one of the docents and she told us they inject the vasculature with a plastic, let it set and then digest the rest of the body away with enzymes.  It's amazing to me that they were able to fill the really small vessels too.  Every detail of these animals can be seen via their blood supply.    We spent most of our time on the musculoskeletal preparations. The camel was really cool. They sectioned the head twice to show three different views of the skull.  The foal and the reindeer were pretty awesome too.  We spent a while identifying muscles and gearing ourselves up for the semester of large animal anatomy ahead. The giraffe was my favorite. That thing was HUGE.  I can't imagine doing that dissection - it would take forever.   
This was an awesome experience and I recommend it to anybody.  They are about to leave Dallas but you should see if they're coming to an area near you.  You'll love it.

Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment.  At each point of intersection, each encounter suggests a new potential direction.

On New Year's Eve I watched an interesting movie with some of my close friends.  Cloud Atlas.  I liked it.  It revolves around the idea that every life is significant and carries with it profound effects on the lives of others.  Perfect for the self-improvement vibe that surrounds the beginning of each January.  (I will warn you though, it's complicated and crazy so take that into account if you decide to watch it).  This time every year we sit ourselves down and have a real look at our lives.  We see holes and want to fill them in.  So we write down our goals and we give a shot at them.  We fail at a lot of them which leads some people to reject the whole notion of making resolutions in the first place.  The disappointment of it all just seems too much for them.  But I think they're missing something.

Truth is singular.  Its versions are mistruths.

If there is no direction in life, you won't get anywhere worth going.  Sure I've made plenty of resolutions that have ultimately failed.  Quite a few of the ones I made this year, I've made before.  But that doesn't stop me from being excited about them.  Since the end of my swimming career, I've always wanted to get back to being as athletic as I was then.  Since my mission, I've always wanted to get back to being as spiritual as I was during those two years.  Are they realistic goals?  Not entirely.  I probably will never have nine practices written for me every week that come complete with a devoted coach and great teammates to push me on again in my life.  And until I'm old, married, and retired, I'm going to have to wait patiently for the opportunity to devote every waking moment of my life to the Lord again.  Those were chapters of my life that have closed.  But DAMN, they were well written.  And they give me something to aspire to.  I know I'm not going to reach those peaks again.  They're behind me.  But they inspire my efforts to move forward.  They let me know what to look for as I move on and give me hope regardless of how many times I fall short of the high marks I set for myself then.  I love this time of year.  I wish this zeal for self-improvement lasted all year long.  I feel like I can accomplish anything.  So I set out with a bunch of goals, and you know what?  I actually accomplish some of them.  New habits develop and new passions are discovered.  Can you imagine what we could get done if we felt like this always?

No matter what you do, it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean. 

But of course there are plenty of times (usually later in the year) when it seems I'm never going to be able to do it.  We all fall down.  But wallowing in inadequacy never got anything done.  Viewing life as a series of obstacles and set backs just teaches us to sit back down and get comfortable with the old version of ourselves - which inevitably turns into a newer upgraded version of the old self we didn't like to begin with. Throughout the year, the zeal dies down.  But the hope doesn't.  We set those same resolutions year after year because it is something that we want.  I think this is where honest introspection without the clouding lens of societal norms plays its biggest role.  We go after what we really want.  Obviously that fluctuates from time to time

What is an ocean but a multitude of drops? 

I want to improve in my life.  I want to go places.  I want to be a great veterinarian who makes a difference in the world of zoology and conservation.  I've wanted that for a long time.  That desire got me into veterinary school. And now my professional goals have simply evolved into new ones.  But I also want that spiritual athlete back.  And a family.  The past year gave me a lot of glimpses into how that can happen and how the opposite of that can happen. Sometimes a good slap in the face with reality can give that to you.  Life is funny like that.  Sometimes it knocks the wind out of you and in your oxygen deprived state you can only see what hit you.  But afterwards, when your figurative diaphragm recovers from its sudden spasm attack you see things clearly. From there you either get to sit down or get back in the game.

Our lives are not our own.  From womb to tomb, we are bound to others. Past and present.  And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.

But here's the great thing.  We are never in it alone.  Every person we meet along this journey of life is a teammate. Everything we do is a group effort.  As we move forward in this new year aiming for new selves, let's remember that we are also forging new relationships because we are changing (or on our way to changing) into new people.  You wanna change the world?  It all starts with you!

I have a testimony of Jesus Christ - that He is our Savior and Redeemer.  I know that He suffered for me personally so that I can face all of life's challenges with His enabling grace.  It is through Christ's Atonement that we can receive forgiveness for our sins and find comfort and guidance in all the challenges we face in life.  I know that His Gospel - when lived to its fullest extent - will bless us and bring us closer to Him in many ways. For me, the most important of those ways is developing a stronger relationship with Him and becoming more like Him.  Everything He taught, everything He was, was to show us the way to live life. Kindness to our brothers and sisters and obedience to God's commandments will bring us the most happiness we can have in this life.  I will undoubtedly be referring back to Him in the explanation of my beliefs but He is the end-all and be-all of my faith so it's only fitting I start with Him.

From the beginning of mankind, God has revealed His will to prophets.  Just check out the Bible. Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses are just a few of them.  Through them, God revealed His will to his people and guided them through life.  Eventually He sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to fulfill all He had taught those prophets.  He set the perfect example and taught the fullness of the Gospel teaching us what manner of men we ought to become.  He called Twelve Apostles and like He had to the prophets of the Old Testament, He gave them the Priesthood Authority to act in His name.  But after His crucifixion, the church began to go in different directions.  Just read any of Paul's works to see just how much effort went into keeping false doctrines and practices from creeping into Christ's church.  Eventually the Apostles were martyred and their Priesthood Authority went with them.  After that, doctrines were determined by vote and councils and many of Christ's teachings changed with them.  After the Reformation, there were hundreds of different denominations claiming to have the correct interpretation of His Gospel.

Naturally that was very confusing - and it still is.  But in the early 1800s in upstate New York, a young man named Joseph Smith Jr was also confused by the religious fervor of his area.  He sought advice from a variety of different pastors.  His experiences left him confused until one day, while reading the Bible, he found a verse in James which reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all man liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him."  He wrote that he had never felt a verse of scripture hit home like this one did.  So, desiring to seek out wisdom from God, he found a secluded place near his home and knelt down and prayed.  While praying, he saw a pillar of light which descended gradually upon him and within the light he saw two personages - God the Father and Jesus Christ.

He asked Them his question - which of all these denominations were right? He was instructed that none of them held the fullness of the truth and he was to join none of them.  Through Joseph Smith, They restored the fullness of the Gospel and the Priesthood Authority.  This is the defining moment of my religion - we are Christians in the fullest sense.  We believe in an active religion that is still led by Jesus Christ today because He restored it through His prophet Joseph Smith and continues to lead it by His prophets and apostles today.

THE PLAN OF SALVATION

I try my best to live a life of obedience, chastity, kindness, understanding, repentance and progression.  That includes making covenants with God.  Some of these covenants include Baptism, the Sacrament, receiving the Holy Ghost, and temple ordinances like receiving the Endowment (an educational session combined with making covenants to keep the commandments) and being sealed to my future spouse. I love the idea of covenants because they keep me accountable to the Lord every day and helps me to keep my faith in the front of my mind every day.

THE WORD OF THE LORD