Moving on

So I have to write about this to get it all out. Once I write about it I will probably not think about it again.

I told my co-workers yesterday that I was leaving the zoo. I saw some shocked faces and some sad faces. Afterward, everyone came up individually to talk to me about where I was going. When you make a big decision like this you always wonder if it is the right thing. I love animals and I thought that I wanted to work with them forever and have a career in the zoo field.

However, when I had two different people come up to me and whisper:
"pssssst... Brittany!" 
"What?"  
"If your new company has any openings, will you let me know?"



I knew that I had made the right decision. These people have been there 2-3 years and obviously aren't as happy as they pretend to be.

I feel that for a career in the zoo field you have to give up your life. I was willing to do this and gave up my life for one whole year. One whole year of never having a weekend off and working from 7 am- 7:30 pm every single Saturday. I might even have been willing to give my life up for another year or two. When you really look at the situation though you realize that this won't be just a year or two. You may give up twenty years of your life before you ever reach the position of supervisor. Even then you don't get weekends off. You might get one weekend day off. Also, there is no guarantee that you will become a supervisor! If I had given up twenty years of my life to work at the zoo and then was passed up for the supervisor position I would have been devistated.

Even though it is hard, I know that the best thing is for me to get out of the field. Learn something new. Build new skills and new contacts. You never know what might come along and you never know how the zoo might come back into your life years down the road because of the new skills that you have to offer.

I will always love the animals. That goes without saying. I am in the process of obtaining as many animal paintings and pictures of them as I can. Luckily, I can always go back and visit if I just can't stand not seeing them any more. I am also looking for my own pets.

My new adventure right now is buying office clothes. It is fun!