Bittersweet is the only way to explain the way this week ended. Lindsay had a few AP exams so some mornings it was just me and those mornings were a little different. Not in a bad way, just in a different way. I spent those mornings reflecting on how I had impacted the Shelter and more importantly how the shelter impacted me. The long days eight to four suddenly seemed extra short. Some of our favorite dogs got adopted which made it sad to walk past there empty kennels. One of our favorites, Atlas went home. He was a Rottweiler and for some reason that is a turn off for people! We were lucky enough to be there when a couple walked in looking for him! They said they saw him online and were so beyond excited to meet him. That night I got into my car and a tear shed from my eye. Yes, I was beyond excited for Atlas and his new home. But man would i miss playing with his favorite rope toy, or snuggling in his favorite grass patch. When working as an adoption counselor you have to put so much trust into people. You have to trust that they are a safe home for the dog, cat, guinea pig, or even rabbit you are handing over. The shelter has taught me so many beneficial things. Some of them are organization, planning, teamwork, communication, trust, and most importantly having a big heart. You have to have a huge heart to work here everyday. Whether it is listening to a person’s story about how their animal got out four years ago and they are still looking for it or dealing with a not so cuddly dog trying to find its forever home. I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity and can not thank everyone enough who made this possible for me!
Reflection 2:
Coming into this second week Lindsay and I picked up more of the schedule and routine of how things were supposed to go. We would arrive promptly at eight and begin simple morning chores like cleaning the small animals, mopping the entry and different areas of the building. But, honestly, we had started to make connections with the different animals. They were dependent on us for food, water, and clean cages. Surprisingly, I began to see the bunnies look at us with more excitement in their black beady eyes than I had before. Now whether they were excited because we fed them or to see us is up for interpretation. I have enjoyed telling myself that they were just naturally excited to see Lindsay and I. Chelsey gave us a schedule that listed off different activities that may or may not happen depending on the week was beneficial, but it also made me realize that in the real world nothing goes by schedule. Outside of our Proctor bubble, you will not have a block schedule. Lunch will not be at noon every day, and you probably will not be waking up at 7:27 to the sound of an alarm clock for a little while. The one thing I realized was how thankful I was for having a schedule at Proctor because now I feel as if I can tackle not having a plan with a breeze. This senior project has taught me how to be flexible, and learn to take bumps in the road. Sometimes the bumpy road teaches you a lot more about yourself than the paved road! I look forward to taking these skills with me as I pave my way at Denison and in life!
Day 14:
Friday was so bittersweet, I realized that this was the end of probably the biggest highlight of my senior year. I made a difference in so many of these animals lives. The number one thing that I have learned from this project is that the people at the animal shelter have the biggest hearts ever! They are patient and kind with people who really do not always deserve it! Also always adopt first!!
Final hours: 106
Day 13:
This was our last full day at the animal shelter, wow! Lindsay and I had really began to realize how much of an impact we had made at the shelter. Different people approached us and thanked us for our time and dedication to the shelter. I loved this project because never for a minute did I feel unwelcome or out of place. I constantly had a purpose, everyday I would get there and an animal would need Lindsay and I. Going forward after this project I think it is safe to say I will only surround myself with people who need me, and who make me feel like I have a purpose. I would not have traded the experience I received during senior project for anything. I encourage my friends in younger classes to do something they feel strongly about! Plan it out! Start working on it beginning of junior!
Day 12!
We spent the day at the Loudon Elementary school helping kids learn about different jobs that they can have. This was called Career Day which is for kids from kindergarten to fourth grade. This was so interesting to hear about how animals have impacted all their lives in different ways. There was a variety of different career choices there. There was an ultrasound reader, doctor, tech people, and different animal people.
What I thought was interesting is how many jobs they showed that you didn't have to go to college for, you could go to vocational school or take up a family business. In a way I was glad to see this because at the end of the day college is not for everyone and there are plenty of professions that don't involve college.
Day 11!
Today was a big day helping with adoptions. The doberman Noelle found her forever home today! How bittersweet, a dog who was in desperate need of a home found one. In a way the Shelter became her home, I barely knew her compared to the others but you could sense her relationship with the others in the room.
We spent the day cuddling with kittens and socializing them. They have all developed personalities of there own which makes it so much more fun.
Day 10!
Today was a very busy day! The shelter is not opened to the public on Monday! It is like a reboot day for the animals so that they can recharge and get longer walks! It also gives them a break from being stared at all afternoon! I spent the morning with the kittens who are super fun!
One of my favorite dogs at the shelters name is Spot! He is extremely high energy! He loves to run around outside and snuggle! I spent an hour of my day today working on different training skills with him! Wether it was sit or lay down. He has made a drastic amount of progress since being at the shelter. He is on hold for a family!
Another part of our day today was a senior home came in! They were all so excited to see the kittens! It made me so happy that they were able to tell us there stories! Harley told us all about how he grew up on a farm in upstate New York with 2 dogs, 17 cats, and 115 cows! I really love being able to connect people with what they love!
Day 9:
This is our second day at the Financial Literacy Fair at NHTI! We had another 300 kids come through our table! This day was a half day so we only were there till about 1! After that we went to the shelter and Eve in administration needed our help with a few chores over there so we helped out!
we also helped set up for a birthday party which was super awesome! A little boy wanted a kitten themed birthday! So we set up the room for the party!
Day 8!
Today was day one at the Financial Literacy Fair at NHTI! This is an opportunity for local eighth graders to begin to understand where each dollar goes! They begin by selecting jobs that they are interested in and from that they do research to get an average amount of money that they would make.
There were different tables set up and they had to attend each table and decide if things at the table were necessities or not! It was really interesting to see that most kids found animals to be high in importance, even if it was just a fish. A lot of the kids said that animals made a home feel more like a home or that there presence was comforting!
Day 7!
Today was a whirlwind of a day with a variety of different things going on! It was Hank's 5th birthday this morning! We had a birthday party for him! He got tons of toys and treats! Hank has also been at the shelter for a year today as well, he has some heart problems that make it hard for him to find a home! (catch him on WMUR though!)
Today is also our paws to read program that we do with a local school. I worked in the bunny room and listened to the different girls read. The first thing I noticed was how these bunnies relaxed as soon as the girls calmed down and just read to them. The three bunnies are very very shy and not very good around people. But, this week Lindsay and I have noticed such great progress with all of them! Everyone is coming out of their cages now and they are just overall more relaxed animals! Here's a picture of Kit to show you how relaxed he is!
I also spent a pretty big chunk of my day hanging out with Mr. Stanley. He is one of the puppies who I have grown very fond of over the past week and a half! We have become such close buds! He is truthfully such a goofball. I really enjoyed just laying out in the sun with him and snuggling. We also spent tonight at five guys informing people about the SPCA! 10% of all profits go to the SPCA that were made tonight. Lindsay and I set up a booth and received a good amount of questions! Overall super exciting day!
Day 6:
Today was another super busy day at the shelter! The morning we started with small animals which we normally do! Hemi who is one of our favorite rabbits became more social than ever today! It is so cool to get to watch the progress of these animals! We also helped out by organizing the upstairs to the barn.
Our afternoon was spent at the Saint Pauls School doing puppy relaxation. This was so cool to watch because we had been socializing these puppies for the past week and it showed what our work had done. It was like a true test! We also got to play with Atlas who is a super fun Rottweiler!
Weekly reflection!!
This week I feel as if I learned the importance of hard work and the true meaning of working for what you have. The women at the animal shelter have really allowed us to work with them pretty hands on. Today, I answered the phones at the front desk. Now this might not sound like a lot to you but for some reason for me it was so exciting. These people all have jobs that depend upon each other. This was something I think as a highschooler we forget, we cannot function sometimes without leaning on the people we care about. I was so happy helping out this week! The people are so amazing, and all the animals are too! Our mentors gave us a “sort of”schedule at the beginning of the week, but we did not always follow the schedule. A lot of fun stuff and different activities tend to pop up! This week's activities really helped me move forward in my small and big successes at the Pope Memorial SPCA. Whether it is snuggling with baby kittens or loving on an old dog. All of these animals have a purpose and home at the shelter. These animals have also been great animal therapy for Lindsay and I ask we slowly but surely get ready to fly the coop at Proctor. So many different life skills you can learn at the shelter like; time management, people skills, and animal skills. After this project I plan to keep on volunteering in the shelter this summer!
Day 5!
Today was a really important day for the animal shelter! it was their annual Paws for Compassion Brunch. This brunch is a really great fundraiser for the SPCA! They have a silent auction and also have many different fundraisers within the event!
They bring different animals for the sponsors to see! Our job was helping greet people at the door, this was awesome because we got to see how excited people were to be there! we also helped a lot making sure the animals got regular potty breaks and also making sure that they were not being overly handled by people.
Day 4!!!
Today was probably my favorite day so far! In the morning we did small animal care, hung out with our favorite rabbit snowball! After that we went to goodwill to drop off different toys that the shelter did not need! We also took out some of our favorite puppies!
Today we got to help with different adoptions and interactions too! This was probably my favorite, since we had spent the past four days getting to know all the different puppies, so getting to share all our knowledge was so exciting! Most of the kittens had also been adopted out too which was so exciting! It was really cool to learn from Kelly and hear all about the different adoption process! I loved being able to greet people and help them find there heart animals!
Day 3:
Day three was another awesome day! Today we helped with puppy socialization again, which has become our favorite activity! This is super awesome because we get to help with creating puppy profiles! There was also a puppy party where people signed up to come visit with the different puppies we have available! It was cool to have people ask us questions about these dogs because we have in a way become "pro" on the different puppies quirks and personalities.
There is also a large amount of kittens, since it is kitten season. These kittens need a lot of socialization so we had no problem helping with them! They were so sweet and cute!
Day 2:
Day two was such an awesome learning experience! We started off by going to the State house to protest against SB569! There was a lot going on at the state house,so it was really awesome that we could go and stand up for something we feel passionately about.
We then went back to the animal shelter and had a pretty awesome afternoon! Five week old kittens had been dropped off at the shelter so we spent the afternoon socializing kittens! Another activity we assisted with was helping with a local fifth grade class that came to take turns reading to different animals. I worked in the bunny room and I found it so exciting how happy all the bunnies were just to hear voices. These bunnies are warming up to us a little more each day which is so exciting! Lindsay and i have really enjoyed watching their progress.
It was puppy photoshoot day!! ( for their adoption profiles) Lindsay and I helped take pictures of all the puppies (a lot harder than you think)
There is not just puppies looking for homes, older dogs need homes too! Overall my favorite part of what seemed for some reason to be a hectic day was playing with Hannah! Hannah is an older girl who just wanted to get outside! She was such an excellent reminder of why we are choosing to do this as our senior project. Hannah was so grateful and happy to have us just hanging out with her and talking to her. In these past two days, I have really started to learn how thankful I should be! I am so lucky to be helping out and can't wait for more eye opening moments in the next two weeks!!
Todays hours: 7
Total Hours: 15
Day 1!
Today was Lindsay and I's first day at the Pope Memorial SPCA! We started our morning off by attending to the small animals. Right now the only small animals in the shelter are bunnies! We help with socializing them and we also clean their cages. This is really beneficial for the animals because it helps them adjust to being handled and played with!
Another big part of our day included working with the new puppies within the shelter! All nine of them were rescued from an unsafe environment so we are helping them learn manners! They are all super cute and will probably be adopted out very soon!
Overall, I am super excited for the rest of senior project!
