I Graduated With My Zoology Degree 8 Months Ago – An Update

After a realization in my life a few years back, I changed my degree program from Finance to Zoology and transferred to Oregon State University in hopes of a career in animal care. This was back in July of 2021 when I realized – finally, what I wanted to do with my life. I had gone to the Nashville Zoo with a friend and got to witness the beautiful work that they do there in their rehabilitation center and the realization that this is what I wanted to do as a career had just smacked me in the face.

I remember calling my mom, bawling my eyes out and thinking that I had been so stupid for starting college in Finance (it was Criminology before that, by the way) when I could have been working toward this goal in caring for animals the whole time.

I had never had a dream job as a kid – I never even wanted to go to college. I graduated high school, took a year off and made some real money, then started college because I missed the feeling of learning. Plus, everyone my age had already been in college so it was just something I felt like I had to do as well.

So having this realization at the zoo was difficult, but also kind of felt like a weight off my chest because I finally had something that I wanted to strive toward.

At this point, I had already had my bearded dragon and my crested gecko at home and had even been running “Kam’s Reptiles” (or as it was known back then as “smaugthebeardie”) with the purpose of helping others improve on their enclosures for a little over a year. So starting my degree program in Zoology honestly felt like my calling and my purpose in life – and it still does.

At the time I had received a lot of questions asking me about the risk associated with switching your degree, let alone to one that everyone knows does not make a lot of money. I had said that it was more important to me to be able to love my job and feel fulfilled, rather than hate my job but make a lot of money. So since then, I have been pretty transparent about my experience in my zoology degree program in hopes to help people potentially make the same decision that I did.

I had written a blog post about my experience in the major while I was still in school but have deleted it since creating my new website (apologies if you didn’t get to read it). I basically had talked about what I wanted to do with my degree and what made me want to get into it – I will copy and paste those answers here in case you’d like to know my past perspective on it.

What kind of things have you been learning about? So, right now, I have only been taking classes for three terms. I have been taking a fairly heavy load though, and that may not be for everyone. But, I’ve taken these classes so far as required: Algebraic reasoning, Technical writing, Shakespeare, Human-environment geography, General chemistry I & II, Introductory Biology I & II, College algebra, Ancient civilizations, and Elementary functions. So, as of right now there has been a lot of math and science related classes, as there will continue to be. Next term I’ll be moving forward with my chemistry, biology, and math sequence as well as some others! There are three chemistry classes required, then two organic chemistry classes after that. Only three biology classes, and several more math classes.

Since a LOT of people wanted to know the specific classes I had to take, I will just go ahead and list them here! Keep in mind that this is a STEM degree, so there is quite a lot of classes here that simply have nothing to do with zoology. I did already have credits from the school I transferred from, so also keep that in mind.

Mathematics: College Algebra, Differential and Integral Calculus, Intro to Statistics (2)

Chemistry: General Chemistry I, II, & III, Organic Chemistry I &2, Environmental Chemistry, and Environmental Physiology (this isn’t chem, but I didn’t have another category for it hahaha).

Biology: Introduction Biology I, II, & III, Cell and Molecular Biology, Invertebrate Biology, Vertebrate Biology, Evolution, Genetics, Ecology, Population Biology, Animal Behavior, Fisheries and Wildlife, Biodiversity, Endangered Species and Sustainability, Environmental Politics and Policy, and Herpetology.

I did have to take some other core classes, but I figure that nobody would care too much about those so I didn’t include them here. Anyways, moving on to the other questions I received.

What kind of career will you pursue after you finish your degree? There are a few things I could do with my degree, but I would love to move into something husbandry related. Rehabilitation is also something I’ve been thinking about, but you never know!

What made you interested in studying zoology? I have a deep love for exotic animals, especially after I got started in the reptile hobby. If you follow any of my content on other platforms, you’ll know I currently have six reptiles of my own that I adore. I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to share my experience with reptiles and the specific care that they each need with the people who follow me online. I would absolutely love to continue that out in the real world someday as well. Educating people about animals, especially the exotic ones that most of the time do not need to be feared, is something I would love to do and can see myself being genuinely happy pursuing.

So that was written at the beginning of me starting my degree, so probably around two years ago. This degree program took me 2 years and 3 months to finish, with me taking a heavy amount of credits every term.

Now, it has been 8 months since I graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Zoology and I will not lie – I have done nothing with my degree so far.

During my degree, I had to take an internship of some kind relating to my field I wanted to go into. I interned at a wildlife rehabilitation and rescue facility in south Texas for about four months and I absolutely loved it. I worked hands-on with a few different species: opossums, squirrels, songbirds, and a couple of others. I learned to tube feed, syringe feed, and honestly just handle animals that I wouldn’t have access to regularly. That job kind of solidified what specifically I wanted to do as a career and I absolutely would have stayed to work at that facility through college, but we had to move.

As many of you know already, my husband is in the military, so we moved from Texas to Illinois for his first duty station. Where I live now, the closest job opportunity for me is an hour to two hours away. So honestly it has been really difficult for me to find a job, especially with only my internship experience and personal keeping of reptiles to show for any exotic handling. I have applied for several different zoo jobs at different zoos an hour away, but have had no success in even getting an interview.

I have lived here for a little over a year now and we will be moving back to Texas next year, so I am truly hoping that I can get a job at the same facility that I interned at – and as of right now that is my only plan for my career. This year I have been working from home and focusing on gaining some more knowledge in the form of certifications, in hopes that it may add something attractive to my resume. So far, I have a certification from The Amphibian Foundation in Husbandry & Captive Management and it was honestly a pretty great experience. To anyone looking for class like this, I would highly recommend it. They covered a variety of species in a short amount of time and each speaker was amazing to learn from.

Anyways, this has kind of been a long blog post so far so I do want to wrap it up. For anyone looking to get into the animal care career field, whether it be in research, a zoo keeper, a rehabilitation position, or field work – I would definitely recommend finding some connections and stacking up experience in the field that you want to get into. Coming from someone with virtually no experience now and when I was younger: volunteer or intern somewhere that has you doing the job that you eventually want to get paid for. It seems that zoo jobs and animal-related jobs in general are quite competitive, so I think that it is important to make your resume look as good as possible. Also, make sure this is something you truly want to do as a career. Animal care workers are notoriously underpaid for the work that they do, so make sure that you love it.

I do not regret getting my degree, but it is kind of true that Bachelors degrees do not get you very far. My next steps are likely a few different types of certifications outside of reptiles (more in the wild animal realm), and potentially looking into a Master’s program in conservation or something similar. I truly would love to work in rehabilitation, as it was the job that I found myself to feel the most fulfilled and happy – even though I wasn’t even there for five months.

I will of course keep you all updated if it is something that you want to hear more about, because I promise I am not giving up on that dream.