Baby Gators and One Final Ride

I’ll get right into it – a lot to talk about.

First, my internship at Newport Aquarium has been going great! We just finished our Mermaids and & Pirates event, and have gone straight into announcing Bayou Babies – 24 2-MONTH OLD baby american alligators!!! They are the cutest little monsters ever.

The social media engagements and reach have been OUTSTANDING! I guess there’s something about baby animals that people just love. To celebrate, we’ve introduced a Bayou Babies BOGO deal, where you can buy-one-get-one free from now until November 3rd! I had the honor of creating a B-Roll for this and it has been featured on all kinds of local media outlets and broadcasts. I would’ve never imagined that my work would get so much exposure. I’m not someone who wants credit for a lot of things, so this internship is a perfect way of helping others (the aquarium) and volunteering! I LOVE THIS PLACE! Besides that, a huge congrats to my amazing mentor and friend Jennifer Chochola Tan (PR Manager for NAQ)! She was a finalist on behalf of Newport Aquarium in the Cincinnati Chapter for the Public Relations Society of America’s Blacksmith Award in the category of Best Use of Social Stories! She is amazing, and her hard work does not go unnoticed! (The Blacksmith Awards honor the best of Greater Cincinnati’s public relations community, from talented, experienced practitioners to stellar work that has local, national and international impact)

In terms of life, I’ve noticed that I’ve been loosing some sleep as work and school is starting to pile up. A struggle of mine is not knowing when to rest and and not work myself as hard. But then again, when you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I am still plowing through getting assignments done ahead of time, and making sure they are high-quality. I’ve hit volunteering over 150 hours currently, and I can tell that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I hope I can continue to network and make my way up the ranks in this amazing industry. Since the semester is going to wind down soon, I hope that Newport Aquarium and WAVE Foundation will take me back next semester, as I want to learn even more from them and offer what I can.

In other news, I was at Kings Island this past Sunday for the final operating day of the season. Not only was it the last day, but it was the last day EVER for the multi-looping roller coaster Vortex. I got to hang with some amazing people and meet some even cooler ones, one of them who came all the way from New Zealand just to ride it. I spent the whole day documenting it’s final moments (which you check out here) and sharing memories with fellow friends who came to celebrate it’s final day. I got three rides on it, and said goodbye. I’ll always miss riding in the very back row, and lifting up out of my seat on the first drop. Once I watched the line cut off at 7pm sharp for the last riders, I went over to the boomerang section one final time to see a beautiful orange and blue sunset, for an orange and blue ride – the most beautiful sendoff I have ever seen.