Week Two and Still Have a Job!!

Man, I love my job. I really thought that it had hit me but I realized that I don't think it ever will. I'm so lucky to have a job that I've always wanted to do and that I completely love. Through these last two weeks, I've realized that this is absolutely something that I want to pursue and eventually make my career.

Over the past few days I've been getting to do a lot more! I got to do what's called a "slap" which is basically giving the whale the position of where to do the behavior. I was on stage and slapped for bows. The next second I had 3 huge killer whales jumping out of the water in front of me about 3 feet away. It was so cool.

We've also been getting to do a lot of play times with the whales. The whales love to eat ice and jello, get sprayed with the hose, watch us go under water and play around with them, etc. That's usually my favorite part of the day. I, and the other apprentices, love making up new fun things to do with the whales. I love when they are all at the glass watching us wondering what we're going to do next. 

I already got scuba certified but I had to get "SeaWorld Scuba Certified". It was really cool to go to the bottom of the pool and look at the gate and see Tikara just staring at me wondering what the hell I was doing at the bottom of her pool. 

I have really loved getting to know the whale's personalities. They are all so surprisingly different and fun in their own separate ways. Tikara is still my favorite right now though :) She's such a sweet little girl (well maybe not little) and is always watching us to see what the heck we are doing. 

The other day I got to go out into the crowd during the show and I was talking to this one kid who told me "That's what I want to do! I want your job!". It really hit home with me because I saw so much of myself in that kid. When I was young, I was the one in awe of the trainers, asking them what I needed to do to get their job. I just told him to do it and to never get up if that's what he really wanted to do. I think that moment will always stick with me.

The seasonal crew and I have really gotten close. I am lucky to really like all of the people I work with. I'm glad since we spend so much time at work together! We are planning a dinner tomorrow night so that'll be really fun to hang out with each other outside of work.

Again, I just can't believe how lucky I am to have this great experience. Yes it's a lot of hard work, yes I come home exhausted, yes I work long days, but dammit I love it. I have such a blast when I'm there, I spend all day with 5 killer whales and a whole crew of fun people and great trainers. I can hardly call this a job. I am living my dream...