The End...

Well, it is bittersweet for sure but my internship has officially come to an end. I definitely learned a lot and had plenty of good times with the mouse but I cannot say that I am sad to be leaving Florida. As a matter of fact I am quite happy to be headed back to the glorious state of SC!! But there are certainly some things I will take with me including but not limited to:

-when in doubt, recycle...or ask guest relations :)
-a love for the "little things that run the world"
-a plan for how to eventually raise my children (mostly learned from horrendous displays of bad parenting)
-knowing how many toes a rhino has and what its poop looks like, and of course how important poop is at the animal kingdom!
-a much expanded knowledge base on all things dinosaurs (mostly learned from little boys ages 8 and under)
-the exact difference between monkeys and apes...monkeys have tails people!!!!
-people don't know how to read maps and don't pay attention to signs...its a fact
-a pine cone apparently feels very similar to a porcupine, a pineapple, or a dinosaur bone when hidden inside a log
-many people think it would be fun to eat all kinds of bugs, namely tarantulas and cockroaches...why else would they repeatedly ask?!
-that the phrase "well paint me black and white and call me a zebra" is totally acceptable and should be used in everyday life!

now these are just a few of the lovely things that being an education presenter at disney's animal kingdom have taught me. As you read this you may think I sound sarcastic or jaded and maybe I am a bit but I do think that working for the mouse has truly taught me so much about communication with all kinds of people and about giving great guest service and these things will surely help me with life in the future. And I don't hold anything against disney and I will certainly be back as a Guest soon enough. But I would like this to serve as a cautionary tale for anyone out there who may be considering working down here...be prepared to give up a bit of the magic so that you can make some for other people. That is definitely the trade off and only time will tell about whether I can get it back.

Seeing as how this blog was created to be info about me during my internship I believe that it will also now come to a close. I'm sorry if it didn't stay as up to date as any of us may have hoped but I have tried my best, hopefully kept you all mostly informed, and possibly even given you a laugh or two! Thanks so much for reading!

Ashley