I have learned that there are so many people who sacrifice their time to help others. Working for a non-profit organization like Second Chance has reminded me why I continue to foster, for the love of doing the right thing and making somewhat of a difference in the world. Over the course of my internship, I’ve learned to appreciate the help of others, which is definitely a new concept for me. Generally, I like to do things on my own, and I have a hard time trusting that people will do things correctly, so I would rather just do those things myself. But there were some things that I couldn’t do on my own, like get multiple dogs washed at the same time, or paperwork that I just couldn’t seem to get done in time. I like to say that I’m good at teamwork, but now I realize that may not be the most truthful thing in the world. I used to think that working in a team was a waste of time, but now I realize it can be a necessity. I was working with like minded people who understood their responsibilities and it was amazing. I’ve learned to appreciate successful teamwork, which isn’t always the case, but I’ve definitely developed a little bit in the team work area. At this point, a lot of nonprofits take advantage of donations, and give almost none of the money to the actual charity they claim to be working for. I’ve been considering going to law school and becoming a corporate or nonprofit attorney, so that I can help make sure that money being raised for a cause actually goes to that cause. Susan G. Koman gives less than 6% of their earnings to actual cancer research, but that 6% is a few million dollars. My mentor Mrs. Nolan was so kind to me my entire internship, and she really wanted me to work on things that I was interested in. She took the time to listen to me and problem solve with me, working with her was a blessing. When I asked for help, no one laughed or looked down on me because I needed assistance, all of my coworkers were just there to be helpful people. My internship was greatly rewarding, and I’m glad I spent my time doing something I’ve loved for the past decade. Neiman is doing a lot better, he's moving around a lot and playing with all of the other dogs. He is insanely sweet and just wants to be loved.
A Metaphor For My Future: Just like how Neiman has greatly improved in emotionally and physical aspects with a little bit of time and continuous effort, my college and future life experiences will be greatly impacted by the amount of time and continuous efforts I put towards my personal success.
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My mentor, Ginger Nolan, started fostering dogs after she retired. With all of the new time on her hands she wanted to donate what she could to help those in need, she volunteers at her church, runs the California chapter Elk Lodges, and still gives the rest of her time to St. Paco’s Second Chance Dog Rescue. In this internship success means getting an animal to come when it’s called, or come out of its crate to eat. I have worked with so many people and donations, dogs, and projects during externship. I’ve learned so much about what success means when you’re a volunteer, going home knowing I’ve made a difference in at least one of those dogs lives makes me feel so humbled and good about myself.
A lot of the dogs from our rescue come from Mexico, we go down in vans and try to bring up as many dogs in kill shelters as we can. The dog I’m working with at work and at home right now was abused so badly, it almost would have been more humane to put him down rather than make him live through his recovery. I’ve learned so much about myself and about what I want for my future, making a difference is something I’ve always been passionate about. This time working full time with the rescue, was one of my most rewarding moments of high school, and one of my happiest. There are always going to be people, and animals, who will need help. There has never been a time where every single person on this Earth had enough food, enough clothing, enough shelter, enough water, and enough love to survive and strive towards happiness. My internship has helped guide me towards a more righteous path of love and devotion to helping others. Working with the organization I’ve learned that I’m not always right, not every goal that I want to achieve is feasible, and sometimes I should keep my mouth shut because I talk way too much. I also need to work on my procrastination, and how I communicate with others. Neiman is doing much better than he was on Friday, slowly but surely he's been coming out of his crate more and eating more food. He likes to be outside in the grass for short periods of time, and then he goes back in his crate to snuggle with his toy Frankenstein sock monkey. He's getting along well with the other dogs and tomorrow I'm going to try training him to go through the dog door. I'm afraid that the dog door will be too difficult for Neiman to push because of his small stature and amputated front leg. Hopefully I can coax him with treats, maybe bacon slathered in peanut butter. Today was also the day for another donation pick up, there was significantly less food this week. But anything we receive is greatly appreciated by the rescue because we wouldn't be able to run as successfully without those donations!
I've been a part of the St Pacos Second Chance Dog Rescue for almost 10 years, if there’s a project that I want to work on, or a specific challenge I want to conquer, all I have to do is ask. If you don’t ask you’ll never get whatever it is that you want. I don’t expect my coworkers to look into my eyes and guess that I want to foster or train a specific dog, it’s unreasonable to think that people are just going to know what you want. And that is what advocacy is all about. Standing up for yourself is one of the best ways to empower other people and get what you want. I’m currently working with a dog named, Neiman, who was severely beaten within inches of his life. He is the absolute sweetest little guy and I know that he’s never going to be treated like that again. Working with Neiman takes a lot of time, he doesn’t really like to come out of his crate and he’s extremely scared of quick movements and loud noises. So I can spend my time with him however I want, today we worked on walking around the yard a bit and eating more food. Everything is a process and Neiman is making great progress. My mentor is currently out of town so it’s my job to train Neiman and make him comfortable, along with taking care of the Shih Tzu, Tylo. Mrs. Nolan is extremely generous and kind-hearted, the absolute perfect person to work with rescue animals. The other little dog I’m taking care of is a Shih Tzu named Tylo, she’s 16 years old and only has two teeth left so she has to eat really soft food. Isn't she the cutest!
Well, today is the day I begin rehabilitating a very special dog named, Neiman. Unfortunately, this little guy was tortured by a previous owner. He was beaten so badly that we had to have one of his front legs amputated and part of his shoulder has to be continually shaved to fight infection. His other front leg should have been amputated too, but instead his bone was set and now he walks with a limp. He is the sweetest little dog, but today I had to sit in his pen with him for close to two hours before he even started inching towards the front of his sleeping crate for a treat. What could drive somebody to do something so horrible to a poor defenseless animal who weighs less than 7 pounds? He is extremely sweet and doesn’t bite or growl at all, he’s very gentle when he eats. Unfortunately, he is so traumatized from being in a new place that he won’t leave his crate at all. I’ve tried coaxing him out with treats but that only works for a few minutes until he’s full and wants to go back inside. I have 6 other dogs at my house right now, two of which are also current fosters, and Neiman is safely tucked away in a little pen in the kitchen.
Looking at this little dog, I know he is unadoptable. People only want to adopt little puppies who will stay cute for a few months before they get bigger. There have been so many times where someone has adopted a dog from the organization and then given it back in a few days. Why you ask? Because they weren’t house trained, or they barked, or they didn’t know how to walk on a leash. These people think that they are receiving these pets completely trained. Even though one of the greatest joys as a pet owner is bonding with a pet through training. If you don’t have the time to teach your dog how to walk on a leash, then you don’t deserve a dog. I am absolutely loving my externship, I spend my whole day working with dogs, organizing tons of storage spaces, and having a generally awesome time. I’ve always really loved working with dogs, and I’ve been a part of this rescue for so long that it just feels like a second home. I could have been doing so many other things over externship, but I’m really glad that I chose something I actually care a lot about. It is my love of dogs that fuels my motivation during externship, and I’m really glad that Second Chance Dog Rescue was the externship I selected.
There are a lot of things to do each day, but so far I’m having no problem completing all of the odd jobs around the office. I’ve been going down to Chula Vista to pick up donations of dog food and toys, I’ve been cleaning up around the office (puppies are pretty messy), I’ve been working in foster homes helping out with the dogs, and I’ve been taking large groups to Fiesta Island on walks. All in all, my externship rocks! I remember being in the sixth grade and convincing people in a team project to focus on Second Chance Dog Rescue for a charity project, I was so excited to bring some dogs to school and have a presentation because all of my own dogs have come from rescues and they’re the greatest gifts I’ve ever received. I am having so much fun working for Second Chance. So far my externship is pretty independent, I get a list of things that need to get done and I drive all around the city working on little projects for everyone. Today I spent a majority of the day driving to Chula Vista and picking up donations. The biggest pick-up was from Walmart, we received over 600 pounds of food that we loaded into the car. Also, because I was on my own I brought one of my dogs with me to keep me company, she’s the little one on top of all of the food in the pictures below. After I picked up all of the food in Chula Vista I drove to the storage lockers downtown where we keep all of the food and unloaded everything. Even though Second Chance is a dog rescue we receive cat food, bird food, bunny food, and pretty much any other food that wouldn’t be for a dog. I find it pretty funny to be filling up the storage lockers with food we’re later going to donate to other rescues, it’s a pretty great way to give everybody a little bit of all of the donations. Working on my own and having to get a lot of things done in a day is helping me develop personal responsibility skills, as in, “Maybe I shouldn’t procrastinate till 3 o’clock if I have other things to be doing at 3:30”. I enjoy all of the projects though, I’m never bored and I’m constantly doing something new which I absolutely love. Hopefully sometime soon I’ll be able to work with some doggies. The main goal of my externship is to be helpful and get some dogs adopted, and that’s what this organization really cares about. Everybody is here to help one another and get dogs adopted out to good families who will love them. Working for St. Paco’s Second Chance Dog Rescue is so interesting, there are tons of things to do all of the time, my hands are never idle and the work is so much fun. My workplace changes a lot, so far I’ve worked at the office and a few of the main foster families’ houses. All of the people I work with are really nice, my mentor Mrs. Nolan is extremely kind and loves working with all of the dogs. I’ve known all of the people in the organization for a long time so it’s nice to be around people I know. I’m struck by the constant devotion to the organization I see every time I visit a foster parent, these people take time out of their days to care for and train needy animals.
Today I continued helping Mrs. Nolan organize her doggy care room, there are so many crazy things in that room like leashes that light up, a crate of doggy conditioner, and even blinged out collars. I’m so excited to be working with some dogs later in the week and learning how to effectively train them, more dogs being trained means that more dogs will be getting adopted, which is the entire goal of my externship. I’ve been fostering dogs for a long time now, but I never had the chance to work in the office before and I’m so thankful for the opportunity. So far I’m not worried about anything involving externship because I’m doing good work and staying constantly busy, there’s no time for things to go wrong. For my senior externship I am working with St. Paco’s Second Chance Dog Rescue, a rescue I’ve been involved with for almost ten years. I am extremely excited to be working full time with my rescue because I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for abandoned canines and I absolutely love the work that we do here. Honestly I’m not nervous about any of the work involved, I’m excited to be working with dogs all day, who wouldn’t be? At my externship I’ll be training dogs, organizing storage rooms, doing office work, collecting donations, and whatever else the rescue needs to get done. I’m especially looking forward to dog training because when people adopt dogs they usually believe that they come house trained, but that is usually never the case. A lot of those people usually end up giving the poor animal back within the week because they can’t handle the responsibility that a pet demands. I was thinking of making a brochure or flyer of some kind that questions an adoptive parent on whether or not they’re ready for such a love and time commitment. My externship mentor is none other than Mrs. Ginger Nolan, who has been with St. Paco’s since the beginning. She usually fosters about 7-12 dogs at her house and donates all of her time to training them and getting them rehabilitated and adopted. A lot of the animals that we take care of at the rescue have been abused, abandoned, or are just really sick with parasites and don’t trust people. That’s why foster parents take foster dogs in and work with them on trusting people, getting them healthy, and training them for when they’ll be adopted. Today I worked with her on organizing one of her doggy storage rooms, which was completely full and unorganized from floor to ceiling. It took us about four hours just to go through half of the stuff in that room! Of course, having 7 dogs under our feet wasn’t easy. Sometime soon I’ll post pictures with descriptions of some of the dogs Mrs. Nolan has at her house. St. Paco’s Second Chance Dog Rescue runs on foster parent volunteers, we have hundreds of dogs in the organization, but only a small office for main house operations. That’s why what Mrs. Nolan does is so important, she houses a lot of dogs and cares for them in such an inspiring way. The pictures above show just the beginning of the Doggy Room Organization Extravanganza! |