How to Volunteer at an Animal Shelter

How to Volunteer at an Animal Shelter SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Love animals? Thinking about a career as a veterinarian? Or maybe you're just hoping to play with animals? Volunteering at an animal shelter can be a great experience. How can you become an animal shelter volunteer? What will you do as a volunteer? Are there alternative experiences? This guide will answer all those questions and more, so read on! What to Expect as an Animal Shelter Volunteer While volunteering at an animal shelter can be a great experience, it's not going to be fun and games all the time.You willget to play with animals, but that will not be your only responsibility.You’ll likely also be cleaning up after them, sweeping, mopping, filling water and food bowls, tidying litter boxes, washing towels, etc. After all of these things are done, you'll have a chance toplay with the animals. It's going to be work first, and then fun. You’ll likely also have to deal with some customer servicework such asanswering phone calls and responding toadoptionquestions. Depending on the shelter where you work, you may be assigned a specific "job." These jobs include: Adoption Liaison:Assist potential adopters through the process of adoption (meeting animals, filling out paperwork, etc.). Kennel Assistant (sometimes dog or cat specific): Clean the kennel, feed the animals, and provide walks/exercise for the animals. Training Class Assistant:Helprunthe dog training classes offered by the shelter (if applicable). Surgery Support Volunteer:Stay with the animals as they wake up from surgery. Make sure pet owners have all the information they need for post-surgery care. Animal Transport Volunteer:Driveanimals between the shelter and clinic. NOTE:Some shelters require you be 18 years or older to do certain jobs such as animal transport. On top of the menial tasks you may have to do as an animal shelter volunteer, you’ll also likely deal with some sadness.Youmayget attached to animals who end up adopted, and if you work at a kill shelter, you might also get attached to animals that end up euthanized.It’s not always an easy job, so make sure you take all of this into consideration before committing to volunteering at an animal shelter. WhatArethe Requirements for Being an Animal Shelter Volunteer? Most shelters only allow volunteers aged 16 and older.Check your local shelter to find out their age requirement (I’ll get into how to locate a shelter below).If you’re under 16 and want to volunteer, see if they’ll make an exception.They may also let you volunteer if your legal guardian signs off on it or if your legal guardian volunteers with you. Most shelters make you commit to at least a few months of volunteering, if not a full year.These shelters spend time and money training their volunteers, so they want to make sure you’re committed. Atyour trainingororientation, you'll learn the rules of volunteering, sign paperwork (release forms), and get a tour of the facilities along with instructions on how to do your volunteer "job." On top of a commitment to a length of time, you usually also have to commit to at least one shift every other week. Shifts range from 2-4 hours depending on the shelter. Some shelters have physical requirements too (since you might be dealing with large animals and lifting things).They mayrequire you to be physically fit enough to stand and or walk for up to 3 hours and be able to lift and carry 20 lbs or more.They also may require you to be able to tolerate loud sounds and bad odors. Again, contact your local shelter or humane society to ask about their specific volunteer requirements.Learn how to find their contact informationin the next section How to Find a Volunteering OpportunityNear You Finding an animal shelternear you should be as simple as conducting a Google Search for â€Å"[Your Town Name] Animal Shelter† or â€Å"[Your Town Name] Animal Rescue† or â€Å"[Your Town Name] Humane Society.†That should lead you to thewebsite for an animal shelter or, at least, the contact information for an animal shelter near you. If you’re able to locate a specific animal shelter website, look for a volunteer page.On the volunteer page, shelters usually list a contact person for potential volunteers. Reach out to that person to get started as a volunteer.Other shelters have online applications for potential volunteers. Fill one out to get started. If you’re unable to find a website, use whatever contact information you can find through Google to get in touch with someone (whether through phone or email) who works at the shelter andask about volunteering. Don’t be surprised if it takes you a while to get a response about volunteering or if a shelter tells you they don’t need volunteers right now. Volunteering at animal shelters can be very popular, and someshelters already have a lot of volunteers and don’t need more help.You maybe able to be put on a volunteer waitlist. However, if that's not an option,try to approach the next closest shelter in your area. The Good and Bad of Volunteering at an Animal Shelter How is volunteering at an animal shelter different than other volunteer work?You get to work with animals and meet like-minded animal lovers! It's a great way to make friends and spend time with cuddly critters. You also get to help lonely animals. You get to play with them, make sure they live in a clean environment, and help them find loving homes. You'll help guide people on their path to finding their dream pet. It's challenging work, but it can also be a rewarding process. Are you interested in potentially becoming a veterinarian or doing other work with animals? Volunteeringat a humane society will allow you to test out whetheryou’d like to pursue a career working with animals.Working as a shelter volunteer, you'll learn so much about what it takes to take care of animals. You'll learn how hard it is, how rewarding it is, and how sad it can be. By the end of your volunteer experience, you should have a good understanding of whether it's the work you want to do. Volunteering at an animal shelter can also be a great experience for your college application. Here at PrepScholar, we often recommend you try to be an expert in one field rather than well-rounded. Colleges want students who're experts in something.If your passion is animals, or something similar, working at an animal shelterwill look great on your application. Make sure you complement your animal shelter volunteer work with other animal-related experiences(i.e. hosting a fundraiser to build a dog park or gathering signatures to add an animal to the endangered species list). Additionally, many extracurricular experiences cost money (such asvolunteer abroad programs). Volunteering is a free extracurricular experience that won't cost you anything other than your time. I highly recommend engaging in volunteer work even if you ultimately decide an animal shelter is not the right place for you. Keep in mind that, as I said before, volunteer work is not all fun. You'll have to do menial work such as cleaning up after the animals beforeyou can play with them. Additionally, if you work at a kill shelter, you might getattached to animals who get adopted or euthanized.If you’re interested in working with animals (but don’t want to or can't work at an animal shelter), you could try some similar alternatives. Check out the next section for ideas. Alternatives to Volunteering at an Animal Shelter If you don’t have the time to commit to working at a shelter, consider job shadowing a veterinarian for a day or two.Job shadowing is a great, quick way to learn more about veterinary work. Another alternative isfostering an animal if youhave space at your house (and yourparents allow it).However, fostering is a big commitment, so make sure that you and your family have the time to dedicate to caring for the animal you foster. If you need to make money and don’t have the time to volunteer for free, consider trying to get a job as a dog walker or pet sitter.If you live in a major metropolitan area (NY, LA, Seattle, etc.), there is a dog walking app called Wag, where you can set your own hours to walk dogs. Consider checking it out! If you’re interested in medicine in general (and not just working with animals), consider doing a summer medical program, summer medical internship, volunteering at a hospital, or job shadowing a doctor.Read our other article on Medical Experiences for High School Students for more details (Coming soon!). What’s Next? If you’re a high school student looking for an extracurricular activity, learn about Model UN and how to join your high school newspaper. Looking for something to do this summer? You should check out the Emory Pre-College Program and the Boston University Summer Challenge. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Are Video Games Good For Children Children And Young People Essay

Are Video Games Good For Children Children And Young People Essay For that matter, are video games good for adults. Has anyone ever seen the effects of prolonged exposure to video games and the effects it has on someones family or the community? As a father, I have dealt with negative effects of video games first hand. There have been numerous studies and debates on the subject of video games and the effects, whether positive or negative, they have on children. Video games are not good for children because of the negative effects to a child’s behavior and overall health. Violent tendencies Children that play violent orientated video games have displayed violent tendencies toward others. There have been numerous studies and research conducted, on violent video games played by children, which suggest that children â€Å"may become more aggressive after playing† (Harvard Mental Health Letter, 2010) those types of games and the conclusion behind this reasoning, are three traits of the personality, which are â€Å"high neuroticism† , â€Å"disagreeableness†, and â€Å"low levels of conscientiousness† (Harvard Mental Health Letter, 2010). Playing violent orientated video games cause children to act and think aggressively (Harvard Mental Health Letter, 2010). These conditions may cause children to commit violent acts or behavior. Violent Behavior In addition to increased aggression, â€Å"children who play violent video games are associated with increased violent behavior† (Souccar, 2012). Because of this behavior, there have been multiple despicable acts such as the Virginia Tech shootings where a gunman killed over thirty people in 2007(Lee, Finley, 2011). In 1999, another devastating act in Columbine, Colorado, â€Å"two teenage gunmen† entered a school with weapons, killed twelve students and a teacher, before taking their own lives (Belanger, Wagner, 2011). â€Å"Eric Harris and Dylan Kiebold were frequent players† and program contributors to a violent video game called â €Å"Doom† (Lee, Finley, 2011). Children or teens, that do not commit violent acts, may still display pathologic behavior. Pathologic Behavior Children that play video games exhibit pathologic behavior. There are many warning signs of pathologic behavior, such as â€Å"lying about or hiding how much time is spent playing or disobeying parental limits; losing interest in sports and hobbies; choosing the game over time with friends; and continuing to play despite plummeting grades†(Wagner, 2008). This is a very touchy subject in my household. My thirteen year old step-son has exhibited pathologic behavior because of video games. When the neighbor’s kids come to ask him to play outside, he refuses and has continued playing his games. His grades at school have suffered because he does not concentrate on doing his homework and worries more about playing video games. He has told a few lies, thrown tantrums, kicked walls and our washing machine, and is constantly disres pectful to his siblings, my wife and myself. My step-son has also exhibits signs of video game addiction. Video Game Addictions Children with video game addictions, if left untreated, could have disastrous effects as adults. There are millions of people all over the world who love to play video games, either on game systems or online social media, but that love for the video games turns into tragedy for those with video game addictions. According to Lee and Finley (2011), a couple in Korea went to a local establishment to feed their video game addiction, only to return home over five hours later to find their four month old baby girl dead because she was left alone. Also according to Lee and Finley (2011), parents in Reno, Nevada were arrested â€Å"after their obsession with video games caused them to neglect to feed their two young children†.

Organizational Behavior, Dr. Pavlov Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organizational Behavior, Dr. Pavlov - Essay Example Reinforcement means repeating a set pattern of actions, considering them pleasurable when doing so and doing it enough times for the body to bypass conscious evaluation of action and respond immediately with the set pattern that is linked to a stimuli. Pavlov's father was reinforcing him for priesthood after his accident. Athletes use reinforcement to prepare themselves, repeating the motions of their particular sport, enjoying the process even when they seem to be in physical plan and use repetition till the execution of the desire motion becomes second nature, this is reinforcement. Extinction is best explained like this. Constant exposure to a stimulus lowers its perceptible threat, given a new element is not introduced. Dr. Pavlov's indifference towards the danger of offending Stalin, who uncharacteristically didn't respond, explains extinction. The feeling of being annihilated is intense when the stimulus is new, but with constant exposure, the threat reduces and we feel safer. This is how children evolve from the fear of the boogeyman. With constant exposure to darkness (provided no one is trying to scare them), boogeyman does not feel so threatening anymore. The Pavlovian concept of discrimination is based on how a stimulus is evaluated and responded to, the response can be conditioned based on past experiences or unconditioned due to uncertainty on evaluating a new stimuli that has been introduced. Dr. Pavlov reprimanding his assistant for being late to the laboratory despite pitched battles taking place on the streets shows how he discriminated the situa tion differently from those around him. The most common examples of discrimination can be seen among people who have different preferences in music genres. An individual who prefers classical music like that of Mozart and Beethoven, discriminates the current hip hop scene very differently from one who lives off on such kind of music. Discrimination is based upon past conditioning and acquired response, but it can and does change over a period of time. Generalization, as the name suggests, is the perceptual experience of an uncommon situation, expressed through evaluation with past experiences. Dr. Pavlov's indifference to practicalities like taking care of his finances or personal safety, irrespective of penury or losing his son or on becoming a Nobel Prize winner and writing angry letters to Stalin, display his generalization towards practical matters. Most prominent generalizations are seen on television networks covering natural disasters like hurricanes. Before a hurricane hits shore, certain patterns are detectable, based on this predictions are made. Whenever a similar pattern emerges, a call for cover against hurricanes is called for; sometimes it is a false alarm. But generalizations have been made based on past data, assuming that when A = C, the chances of C happening when A manifests itself is highly probable, this is generalizing, the media conglomerates have understood this concept well and use it periodically and effectively.