Keeney, Kimberly: Credentialing

I want to own or work at a wildlife refuge that focuses on big cats. In order to do that the easiest route is to secure multiple non-paid internships at various reserves to learn the ropes and get a variety of hands-on experience dealing with different breeds of big cats, while also getting experience on how to deal with the big cats that unfortunately had violent and abusive back grounds. However, in order to even get considered for an internship I need a college degree in a related field. A college degree paves the way for the easiest path of getting where I want to go. Even with a degree it will not be easy. Graduating college is one thing, but getting accepted for an internship and having the money saved to support myself for 6-9 months is another story. There are only a few paid internships at wildlife reserves because they are completely funded by the government and private donations. They simply do not have the resources to pay all of the interns they need to keep the reserve running without taking money away for the animals. Getting one internship may not be enough to get a job at a reserve. Most likely I will have to intern at several reserves before I accumulate enough experience or intern at the same reserve and hope that a staff position becomes available. To be successful with what I want to do requires patience, perseverance, great work ethic, but most of all a college degree. Taking the time to get a college degree in Wildlife Biology and Management will open more doors for me than volunteering for four years would. Without a college degree I would have to get a part time job and volunteer as much as I could until maybe the managers of the reserve could find a place for me. Volunteering is a great idea to do while I'm still in school because it would show potential employers that I was serious about what I wanted to do, but if I just volunteered then the work I did would only really count for the place I volunteered at. What I want to do with my life is hard enough, and having a college degree can only help open doors that would otherwise be closed to me.