Arcadia Australia

We had the pleasure of having Aspen La-Riene Settle, from Arcadia University take part in our Semester study abroad program in Townsville studying at James Cook University this past Spring. Aspen had a fabulous semester and was very involved with the Arcadia co-curricular program. Aspen has kindly shared her experience with us through her contemplative co-curricular learning project.

Aspen La-Riene Settle

During my stay in Australia, I volunteered 60 hours of my weekend time at Billabong Wildlife Sanctuary

As a student with goals of becoming a veterinarian, I went to Billabong for the chance to gain experience with animals.  I did not expect to gain so much experience with people

 What Animals Do They Have??

• Alligators, Freshwater & Estuarine Crocodiles
• Eastern Grey & Red Kangaroos
• Common & Hairy-Nosed Wombats
• Koalas
• Cockatoos
• Rainbow Parakeets
• Whistling Kite
• Curlew
• Kookaburra
• Barn Owl
• Eclectus Parrots
• Bilbies
• Cassowaries
• Pademelons
• Dingoes

 A Typical Morning at Billabong

• Arrive at 7:30am, attend a briefing of the day’s events & begin enclosure cleaning/path raking. Follow-up with delivering the animals’ morning food
• “Smoko” at 10:00am, have coffee & a snack
• Begin food prep at 10:30am-this includes fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, oils, meats, grains, & any other dietary requirement that the various animals may need. Must be sure to follow the ingredient list pertaining to each animal & ask necessary questions without hesitation 

A Typical “Arvo” at Billabong

•  Assist with Reptile Show at 12:00pm. This includes holding animals such as Kevin, The Blue-Tongued Skink, & Carlos, The Water Python. Following the ranger’s presentation, facilitate guests holding & picture taking of the animals by showing them how to hold a lizard or draping the python around their shoulders, etc.
• Lunch of sandwiches at 12:30pm provided by the on-site café
• Arvo Run at 1:00pm to hand out animals’ evening food & collect morning food bowls
• 2:00 pm-Assist with Turtle show (hand out fish skins to guests wanting to feed the turtles, then catch two turtles & set them up to race) followed by helping with the Dingo show as necessary (hiding bits of kangaroo haunch around the enclosure to demonstrate their power of senses & agility
• 3:00pm-Cut grass for kangaroos, “bin run” (taking out the trash), clean dishes, & helping with any odd-jobs
• 4:30pm-End Day

Reflections on Learning

As previously stated, my goal in spending time at Billabong was to gain valuable experience with wildlife, as that experience may help me in the veterinary field

I learned a lot in this respect: what kind of foods various animals need, as well as the manual upkeep that goes with their housing, how to handle these animals & read their behaviors, and what life in the wild is normally like for them.

I did not foresee myself becoming a professional in handling the public at a wildlife park…

Communication & people expertise are as important in the field of animal care as animal & medical skills. However, these facets are much less developed at university and in training than more practical skillsets that seem more straightforwardly useful.

While I was at Billabong, I experienced children wanting to hold an animal but not understanding the proper way to place their body for the animal to be responsive. I had to figure out how to guide these kids, in a fun and inviting way, to be more friendly to the animal. If a guest got scared by a sudden movement from the animal, I had to both protect the animal from harm or escape, but also remember to be kind and patient with each person’s fears.

Lessons Connecting to Other Experience

I also had to pick up strategies for dealing with adults who had unexpected questions or actions. As an example, one day, monitoring the kangaroo yard, a mother was confused as to why I asked her toddler daughter not to touch the faces of the ‘roos. I explained by good-humoredly asking her if she enjoyed having toddlers poke her in the face. She laughed and of course said no, but this shows the difference in priority: she had come to Billabong to prioritize her daughter & her experiences, while my priority was the comfort & protection of the animals involved. Billabong taught me how to constructively manage these intersections of interest. 

New perspective

Although one of the determining factors for me going into an animal-related profession was my lack of affinity for humans, my experiences in Australia, specifically my time at Billabong, made me realize that people skills are actually a very important part of the job. Although I may not work in a wildlife park in the future, the necessity to work well with people translates to the veterinary profession in the scope of partnerships with other doctors and discussing treatment options or explaining diagnoses to pet owners. Even though in the past I have shied away from people, I have now realized that although these skills are necessary, some human interactions can even be enjoyable. I am quite proud of these assets that I have developed in the past few months, and am determined to more fully supporting these skills of communication, patience, empathy, and education in the future.