Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

My name is Hayley and I am a junior at a high school in Spring Valley. My hobbies are surfing, skateboarding, and gymnastics. I enjoy surfing because I love to be in the water with sea creatures. Whenever I am not at the beach I am skateboarding with my friends. I have been doing gymnastics since I was two and really enjoy the sport. I love to be outside hanging out with my friends. I also love to travel with my family to other countries and experience their cultures. I feel that it is extremely important to travel the world and to see other people’s lifestyles. It is also interesting to see how other parts of the world interact with animals and their environment. I traveled to Peru, where I saw the ancient Incan ruins, Guatemala where I saw howler monkeys in the rain forest, and Mexico where I saw gray whales migrate down the coast of Baja California to give birth in protected lagoons. 

I have loved animals from a very young age and have always known that I wanted to work with them someday. Primates are my favorite group of animals because I am fascinated by their intelligence and how similar they are to humans. When I am older, I hope to go to Africa and work with the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. It would be amazing to see the gorillas in the wild without any glass windows separating us. I also would like to travel the world to teach people about conservation of wildlife and how important it is to protect animals and the environment.

I became interested in Zoo InternQuest when I learned about it from my school’s morning announcement. I had always thought about careers at the San Diego Zoo and figured that this would be the perfect opportunity to explore what the Zoo does. I am extremely excited about exploring the different fields of science that involve animals. I have always loved going to the Zoo, so now I get to see everything that goes on behind the scenes. I am also looking forward to going to the Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) center. This summer I was able to visit the CRES center and have a tour. It was amazing to see what all the scientists are doing to help animals. I am honored to be in the InternQuest program and to see all that goes on behind the Zoo gates marked “employees only.”

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