How Animals Taught Me To Speak by Charlie

How Animals Taught Me To Speak by Charlie - May 2018 Scholarship Essay

Dogs and cats were carefully taken out of a van in front of us on leashes and in cages, as my mom and I approached the pet store. Letters saying Pets Without Partners "Opt to Adopt" amicably presented itself before me. My eyes moved toward an illustrated picture of a child affectionately resting their head against a scruffy dog, which was leaning into them about to presumably lick the child's face. My urge was to immediately want to see these animals up close, and maybe if I was allowed - to pet one. As I walked off toward the animals, I overheard my mom catch the attention of a lady and ask her if they were looking for volunteers. I beamed at this as the lady exclaimed enthusiastically that they were always willing to accept more people to help out. Thus, began my summer after graduating high school of volunteering at an animal shelter.

The shelter held an adoption event every Saturday from ten in the morning until three pm. I attended almost every Saturday from the beginning that they arrived, and almost every time I stayed until they were packing up. Many people would come to this event, and they browsed the area where the dogs were out in a make shift kennel. There were also cats in cages that could be brought out or opened for people to pet or greet them. I ended up being known as the cat girl, as I would remain continuously by the cats unless there was help needed over in the dog area. Puppies were very popular with most of the people who came to adopt or browse. However, I found myself trying hard to get people to come say hello to the cats. Many people would overlook them since there weren't as many in comparison to the number of dogs there. I quickly learned to be more vocal and communicative in this position, as I had been a very introverted and quiet individual before. Also, puppies and cats needed shots and the lady in charge of the organization who was certified for this, would take them in the back to administer them. I learned valuable ways from her in how to handle the animals better when they were stressed. Before this volunteer position I hadn't been in a place where I was required to pass information on to help people. This quickly changed as I was given a book of all the animals there that had all the information on them, including their previous home history and personalities. I found myself memorizing many of these animals' information, so I could provide it on the spot to interested people wanting to adopt.

I fell in love with so many of the animals during my time volunteering, and it was hard not to take many of them home. This volunteer experience also helped me get my first job, which was as a cashier, and I feel I learned a lot about communicating to people through my experience.