Volunteering

Animals have always been a passion for me, but I have always felt the need to know if it would make a good career choice for me. Many people have told me not to make my passion a career, because sometimes it turns your passion into a job, that you have no choice but to adhere to.  They say a passion should remain as only a source of fun.  To figure out for myself if working with animals as a job choice was right for me, I volunteer with animals.  My internship at Happy Hollow was more of a job than a carefree volunteering experience; there were limited spaces, interviews, and many responsibilities that came with the job.  And though many people told me that I may not find animal careers as fun and interesting, I never felt bored while working.  Even if I worked with the same animals every day, I discovered something new.  I was given the opportunity to hold and interact with many animals I didn't think I'd ever get to meet.  I've met lemurs, wallabies, alligators, and meerkats while working.
In the future, perhaps after I graduate high school, I would like to spend a couple months in Africa or India volunteering with animals.  One amazing opportunity allows for volunteers to care for orphaned wildlife.  The project, at Noah's Ark Wildlife Center, is located in Namibia, Africa: http://www.enkosiniecoexperience.com/NoahsArk.htm and seems amazing.  Though it seems as if it isn't as much of a help to the animal populations as a whole, (since you pay a lot of money to bottlefeed baby animals, its more of a fun vacation) it's still a good place to start.  I want to be able to get my hands dirty and involved in taking care of animals in order to gain a deeper personal connection with them.  Also, established centers such as the one above are good places to start, since I am used to a comfortable, mostly disease-free lifestyle with many luxuries, and such centers have at least some of the luxuries and protect better against disease (since they are geared more toward foreign visitors).
I would also look into volunteering in India.  I go every other year anyway to visit family, and I have always been fascinated with the wildlife of India.  The Gir Forest especially, the only place on earth where lions, tigers, and leopards all coexist in the wild, is a place of interest.  And obviously, since it is where I am from, I have a natural connection to the country.
Currently, I volunteer at Nike Animal Rescue Foundation, where I look after kittens and bottlefeed and socialize them when necessary and the German Shepherd Rescue.
I plan to do an internship at the Silicon Valley Wildlife Center, which would give me a chance to work with local wildlife.