Suncoast Animal League Descriptive Writing

Throughout my nearly four years of volunteering with Suncoast Animal League, I have felt a wide range of experiences and emotions towards the non-profit. My first day was absolutely terrifying. I arrived at the shelter with the idea that it was the typical shelter shown on television, a considerable sized building with huge kennels and white walls. Instead, before me stood a house, about the size of my own, with a few cars parked outside. Upon entering it became even more apparent that the building was once inhabited by a typical family; the kitchen was off to the side and both the medical room and back quarantine rooms felt like modified bedrooms. Nevertheless, the workers were friendly and I began my training. Without delay, a kind older woman greeted me and guided me around the shelter. It felt like a bustling bee hive between all the dogs and people moving from place to place. Eventually, we reached the cat room where another one of my preconceived notions would be ripped away. For some peculiar reason, my timid mind assumed that most of the cats living at the shelter would be feral. I

As noted prior, I was quite the shy and unsure person before volunteering. This more than likely only amplified my fear and previously held ideas. However, over time that shifted and I became more confident. For instance, the fact that things shift and get lost on a weekly bases allowed me to accept that I can be wrong at times. In the beginning it frustrated me to no end that I could not find certain things that I once knew the location to, but when at such a tiny shelter things get shuffled. This newfound confidence also fostered my love of teaching. Currently, I am the one to give an orientation to any new cat room volunteers that come in while I am there. Recently, this gave me the opportunity to train a woman who was blind to do some of the tasks, which was a wonderful