I never really knew what I was going to be "when I grow up". And all of a sudden, I'm grown up. I have people working under me, my name in training manuals appears under "coordinator" and "direct supervisor". No one ever prepared me or gave me the introductory course to the "real world". I'm not going to lie, it is strangely overwhelming, and yet, freeing.
My first day on the job i was handed a 5 inch thick training, shown my cubicle and said good luck. My manager left two weeks later. She was great, she showed me everything she could in the short period of time. Her final email put me as the "go to" for the department. Suddenly, I was being pounded with questions, phone-calls, emails, concerns, applications, ideas, planning...eek! Wait! Pump the breaks! What did I just get myself into?! I accepted a job as an Education Associate. I understood I would be taking on the volunteer coordinator position as well, but wow!
All of my previous experience in education was hands-on and interactions for people. I was always relaying scientific information to a non-scientific audience. All of a sudden, I was putting all of my knowledge into docents and volunteers and hoping they can take my knowledge out into the park. I give lectures, and when I can find the time, venture into the park for 1:1 education...but the majority of my duties are making schedules, phone calls, and reservations. Strange...
It is neat to be bale to take stuff that I am genuinely interested in and concerned about, study it, learn it and pass it on to others to venture out int the world and do the "dirty" work. Than I go back to my desk and start devouring new environmental impacts and knowledge to regurgitated onto my docents.
As much as I do enjoy this, there were (and sometimes are) concerns I had to find peace with. I love the ocean and I truly believe that the key to conservation is knowledge of the impacts we can have on our environments. I just assumed I would be putting that knowledge into people's heads by field work, on-site, hands-on experiences. But alas, no. Than I started my internship at Dolphin Quest and assumed maybe rehabilitation was the way to go. I had a bit of a morally rough time/infatuation with the idea of training marine mammals under human care. I, based on my opinions and experiences, have formatted conclusions in regards to marine mammals (and all animals) under human care. These opinions are neither yay or nay and are based on a case-by-case basis. I will keep this opinions to myself.
So where I have come to peace with y desk job? The fact that from a financial standpoint, I am lucky to have a steady, full-time, well-paid position. I make more than some friends, not as much as others. Quite honestly, not as much as I feel I should be making...but I get to make a real impact on people in education them on marine stewardship issues that mean a lot to me. I have the freedom to develop curriculum to enhance the State of Hawaii's future generation of marine conservationists. I live in Hawaii...if that isn't reason enough.
Coming from someone who has done almost EVERYTHING in the marine science world..I really do enjoy education. I have done research, training, lab work, field work, school work, outreach, education, husbandry, you know it. But if I can inspire ONE person to pursue a career in marine stewardship like one person once did in me, than I have made a difference. I will be investing, in my own way, in the future of our oceans. I can help ensure a healthy and thriving ecosystem for future generations. In my own way, I AM making a difference.
This is my passion. The ocean. All of the seas. All of the inhabitants and chemical properties that it comprises. I love the biological, geological, paleological, chemical, dynamical fluid combination working as one entity to sustain all of life. If I am full-filling a purpose in my life, the ocean will always have a connection. Spiritually, emotionally, physically. No matter how direct or round-about.
Go dive. Go swim. Clean your beach. Think sustainably. Everything we do effects the ocean. WE can make a difference, one person, one action, one inspiration at a time.
"How wrong it is to call this planet Earth, when so clearly it is OCEAN".
Namaste.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Monday, March 7, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Life's a beach
Paradise can be lonely.
I successfully survived my first week of work at Sea Life Park Hawaii. I went into it on Monday morning feeling hopeful and excited, and left Monday afternoon feeling terrified and overwhelmed. I thought I had taken on more than I could handle and was concerned my qualifications weren't enough to prepare me for the tasks at hand. I came into a department that consisted of all of three people: myself, an ancient Japanese lady and my manager, who is quitting Feb 11th because of her pregnancy. She handed me a binder that was 10 inches thick, showed me a cubicle and basically said "read". Some of my tasks include hiring, firing, scheduling, orientating and creating new volunteer programs in three departments, outreaches for public programs, new lectures, teaching and creating and redesigning the park's already existing lecture-based k-12 classroom programs. My manager was in and out of the office the rest of the week and I was tossed head-first into crying volunteers, bleeding and cut interns and scheduling school groups.
Tuesday afternoon after aimlessly staring at my computer unsure of what to do, I decided to take a walk around the park and ran into the general manager. He knew immediately who I was and said that I was the "famous person from California, brought in to save the education department". My heart sank. What!? I worked part-time at the Aquarium of the Bay talking about fish! Before that I was a waitress and before THAT I was training! He said how he had to wait weeks to hire me because I was coming from San Francisco and Stephanie (my manager) had insisted that I was the best person for the job. He started asking me managerial questions...needless to say I smiled and nodded and did the best I could in terms of answering them and walked away feeling like a deflated balloon. What was I doing!?
Wednesday afternoon after another full day of questioning my abilities to perform the tasks at hand, I decided to just jump and make something happen. Thursday I came up with two projects and presented them to my manager and got the "Ok!" to start them. My first project is to get an Education Cart set up in the park where I can take on more volunteers to staff it and talk about marine conservation and answer questions about marine life. I emailed the Monterey Bay Aquarium to ask about becoming a partner in their Seafood Watch program, drew up a proposal for the Sales and Marketing Department and got them to replace a hole in my floor, a new computer monitor, hired on 2 new volunteers and started drawing up lectures and lesson plans for my outreach cart.
Needless to say when I left work yesterday I saw a ton of potential in my position and helping to make the park a more education-friendly area. I've gotten the green light from a bunch of management and now it's just a matter of taking it and running with it all the way to the finish line.
...but after all the stress and success this week...I still come home alone. I cook dinner for myself, watch tv by myself, drive my car by myself, go to sleep by myself and wake up by myself. I went out with friends last night and felt like I was finally back home and had a blast, but wishing someone was here and being able to share all of these experiences with me just makes me feel lonely.
Last night I looked up at the stars and smiled at all their twinkling faces. Today, I stood on a rocky outcropping with a dear friend of mine and looked towards the back of an ancient volcano. It was covered in green foliage and contrasted against the bright blue sky. The water bellow me was crystal blue and stretched to the horizon. Nothing but the sound of waves and laughter surrounded me. I jumped off a log into the sea and swam around a rocky reef. I laid on a white sand beach and hiked back through a trail of black sand. I had so much fun, I felt completely blessed. And all I could think about was you.
I successfully survived my first week of work at Sea Life Park Hawaii. I went into it on Monday morning feeling hopeful and excited, and left Monday afternoon feeling terrified and overwhelmed. I thought I had taken on more than I could handle and was concerned my qualifications weren't enough to prepare me for the tasks at hand. I came into a department that consisted of all of three people: myself, an ancient Japanese lady and my manager, who is quitting Feb 11th because of her pregnancy. She handed me a binder that was 10 inches thick, showed me a cubicle and basically said "read". Some of my tasks include hiring, firing, scheduling, orientating and creating new volunteer programs in three departments, outreaches for public programs, new lectures, teaching and creating and redesigning the park's already existing lecture-based k-12 classroom programs. My manager was in and out of the office the rest of the week and I was tossed head-first into crying volunteers, bleeding and cut interns and scheduling school groups.
Tuesday afternoon after aimlessly staring at my computer unsure of what to do, I decided to take a walk around the park and ran into the general manager. He knew immediately who I was and said that I was the "famous person from California, brought in to save the education department". My heart sank. What!? I worked part-time at the Aquarium of the Bay talking about fish! Before that I was a waitress and before THAT I was training! He said how he had to wait weeks to hire me because I was coming from San Francisco and Stephanie (my manager) had insisted that I was the best person for the job. He started asking me managerial questions...needless to say I smiled and nodded and did the best I could in terms of answering them and walked away feeling like a deflated balloon. What was I doing!?
Wednesday afternoon after another full day of questioning my abilities to perform the tasks at hand, I decided to just jump and make something happen. Thursday I came up with two projects and presented them to my manager and got the "Ok!" to start them. My first project is to get an Education Cart set up in the park where I can take on more volunteers to staff it and talk about marine conservation and answer questions about marine life. I emailed the Monterey Bay Aquarium to ask about becoming a partner in their Seafood Watch program, drew up a proposal for the Sales and Marketing Department and got them to replace a hole in my floor, a new computer monitor, hired on 2 new volunteers and started drawing up lectures and lesson plans for my outreach cart.
Needless to say when I left work yesterday I saw a ton of potential in my position and helping to make the park a more education-friendly area. I've gotten the green light from a bunch of management and now it's just a matter of taking it and running with it all the way to the finish line.
...but after all the stress and success this week...I still come home alone. I cook dinner for myself, watch tv by myself, drive my car by myself, go to sleep by myself and wake up by myself. I went out with friends last night and felt like I was finally back home and had a blast, but wishing someone was here and being able to share all of these experiences with me just makes me feel lonely.
Last night I looked up at the stars and smiled at all their twinkling faces. Today, I stood on a rocky outcropping with a dear friend of mine and looked towards the back of an ancient volcano. It was covered in green foliage and contrasted against the bright blue sky. The water bellow me was crystal blue and stretched to the horizon. Nothing but the sound of waves and laughter surrounded me. I jumped off a log into the sea and swam around a rocky reef. I laid on a white sand beach and hiked back through a trail of black sand. I had so much fun, I felt completely blessed. And all I could think about was you.
Monday, February 1, 2010
RUN!! THE PROM DRESSES ARE COMING!
Simple things that make me happy. Like being able to pay my rent and have some more money left over for spending. Granted it's not THAT much money left...haha but knowing that I didn't have to borrow any money (I thought I wasn't going to make it) and know that it's all my OWN money makes me happy. And it's all because I work my bootay off!!
Speaking of working. I had some CRAZY stuff happen to me a few nights ago! There was a charter on our top deck of our ship, the charter was called "Dream Club". It was a cosmetic company from Japan, something like Mary Kay, and they were the top sellers of their company. 90 of them had won a trip to Hawaii and were having their going-away dinner on the Star of Honolulu.
So here comes onto our ship 90 decked out Japanese women in full prom dresses, HUGE jewelery, crazy hair pieces, fur coats, way too done-up makeup...all 90 of them speaking in high-pitched tones. We told them that we were going to seat them, and we were standing in the dining room (because they go out to the back deck to take pictures with the Captain) and we're holding trays of drinks. Out of nowhere there's a rumbling on the ship. The whole ship starts to shake and all of a sudden, theres 90 Japanese women RUNNING and screaming at us. It was like a bad game show. Prom dresses flying, full out SPRINTING at us from both sides. All of us ducked and hid and tried not to drop our drinks as they ran past us grabbing and shoving and playing high-pitched rock-paper-scissors so they could sit next to the owner of the company. It was something out of a movie. All I could do was laugh because I was scared for my life. When the Captain came to toast, they irrupted into cheers and screams of "HAI!" One of the servers literally couldn't serve because all the girls lined up to take photos with him the entire night. They were sitting on the floor so others could see the jazz show while they waited to take pictures with him...hahahaha!
Earlier that morning we hiked the Lanikai pillbox to a lookout that over-looked all of the windward side. Here's some photos :)
That's my favorite slug ever haha!
Alright off to take Grady to school, do some homework and nurse my sea urchin wounds, haha :) Hope everyone has a good day!
Bree
Speaking of working. I had some CRAZY stuff happen to me a few nights ago! There was a charter on our top deck of our ship, the charter was called "Dream Club". It was a cosmetic company from Japan, something like Mary Kay, and they were the top sellers of their company. 90 of them had won a trip to Hawaii and were having their going-away dinner on the Star of Honolulu.
So here comes onto our ship 90 decked out Japanese women in full prom dresses, HUGE jewelery, crazy hair pieces, fur coats, way too done-up makeup...all 90 of them speaking in high-pitched tones. We told them that we were going to seat them, and we were standing in the dining room (because they go out to the back deck to take pictures with the Captain) and we're holding trays of drinks. Out of nowhere there's a rumbling on the ship. The whole ship starts to shake and all of a sudden, theres 90 Japanese women RUNNING and screaming at us. It was like a bad game show. Prom dresses flying, full out SPRINTING at us from both sides. All of us ducked and hid and tried not to drop our drinks as they ran past us grabbing and shoving and playing high-pitched rock-paper-scissors so they could sit next to the owner of the company. It was something out of a movie. All I could do was laugh because I was scared for my life. When the Captain came to toast, they irrupted into cheers and screams of "HAI!" One of the servers literally couldn't serve because all the girls lined up to take photos with him the entire night. They were sitting on the floor so others could see the jazz show while they waited to take pictures with him...hahahaha!
Earlier that morning we hiked the Lanikai pillbox to a lookout that over-looked all of the windward side. Here's some photos :)
That's my favorite slug ever haha!
Alright off to take Grady to school, do some homework and nurse my sea urchin wounds, haha :) Hope everyone has a good day!
Bree
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