Meghan and I are in a unique position as we get to know each intern rotation on a professional and personal level while spending several weeks training. We remain in contact after we return home with a weekly video call, but in reality they can contact us 24hrs a day using WeChat. It’s always a sad send off to say goodbye, given that this is my final day at Bifengxia before I return home. But, we are all going to end it with style and celebrate Stephanie’s birthday at a Ya’an hotspot called Carol’s.
Today marks their 13th day going through the rigors of integrating with the base workers, navigating the city, and effectively being able to understand several dozen behaviors for both the Stereotypic and Maternal Care studies. Additionally, everyone is now trained on how to store and freeze dry feces- A useful skill in most laboratory settings. Together, this experience makes them prime candidates for advancing their degrees or securing a job. Two useful tools that PDXWildlife believes to be important to an ever-changing world economy.
We are always so proud to see everyone develop- We try to verbalize this as much as we can, and it usually has the effect that Meghan and I are labelled as Momma & Papa bear. It’s endearing, so we’ve come to embrace it. But, before I say goodbye to the three amigos, I wanted to thank them for all of their continued hard work and dedication to continuing PDXWildlife studies. Take care of each other and be sure to take a day off once in a while.
