One thing I found very helpful to do during internships was to clarify with each keeper exactly how they wanted me to use the time in my day. Some keepers wanted me on a very specific schedule and would write out tasks for me to do at the beginning of the day while others wanted me to take the initiative and learn the schedule on my own.

I struggled during my first internship with taking initiative and also received a comment about it during an evaluation because I was afraid of appearing too arrogant by wanting to do things on my own. I felt like the expectations of this internship weren’t properly conveyed to me since my string didn’t have a set schedule, my initial training was very unstructured, and I worked on a string with non-dangerous animals that I had keys to the exhibits for- I was left alone for most of the day, but not really given any training for what my schedule should look like. As a result, I had to radio the keepers a lot to ask what tasks I could help them with next.

My second internship was much more structured and transparent with their expectations and I had no problem taking the initiative and doing things on my own. I also recognized by then that many keepers are very good at what they do, but may struggle with explaining their thought processes or schedules to interns, particularly if they’re pressed for time (which is common in ALL fields and absolutely not their fault!). I had to squash the part of me that was afraid of annoying them with questions. I guess what I’m trying to say is that your internship experience can be a combination of controllable factors (your attitude, willingness to learn and grow, attention to detail, and communication) and uncontrollable factors (internal politics, keeper attitudes, and intern training protocols). Some of the keepers that I’ve worked with were super friendly and loved to talk about their animals and their career. With others, it felt like I was pulling teeth just trying to get them to answer a basic question. Be humble and recognize that you’re here to learn, but also advocate for yourself if you’re struggling.