A&S Graduate Has a Whale of a Story!

Marshall: What is your hometown, and why did you choose TTU?
Tricia: Corpus Christi, Texas . I knew two things from about age 8 on: that I was going to work with animals and go to Texas Tech. My older sister went there and I fell in love when I visited.

Marshall: When did you begin to develop career plans, and how did that affect your choice of major/minor at Tech?
Tricia: After I first visited SeaWorld, I played Shamu trainer in my backyard pool all summer long. I guess I am still playing!

Marshall: Did you have a favorite A&S professor and why?
Tricia: Dr. Leslie Drew [retired] was my advisor and parasitology instructor. His wit and knowledge still motivate me today.

Marshall: Did you engage in any research while at Tech or have other unique opportunities to foster your career?
Tricia: I volunteered and interned at the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for my last 3 years at Tech. I did rescue and rehabilitation on native Texas wildlife and began to train and condition animals to visit schools and such.

Marshall: I think you mentioned doing an internship or something like that at SeaWorld before being hired, explain.
Tricia: I volunteered at the Texas State Aquarium from eighth grade on to my senior year at Tech, then at SPWRC in Lubbock, then at the Keahou Bird Conservation Center in Hawaii in 2000, working with critically endangered Hawaiian birds. I was already at SeaWorld in 2000, the day after I graduated from Tech.

Marshall: What is your current job title, and what employment levels did you pass through to get where you are? What are some of your responsibilities?
Tricia: I am currently a senior trainer with the interaction program animal training area. My job entails everything from preparing daily diets (aka buckets of fresh fish!) to training beluga and dolphin behaviors, to leading beluga interaction programs, to educating the public on SeaWorld's conservation efforts.

Marshall: If it is not the "best job in the world," how close does it come to being so?
Tricia: I think I have the best job in the world! My husband says, "We get to go to work every day."

Marshall: How do you stay active in your support of TTU (besides this story!)?
Tricia: I have served on the board for the San Antonio chapter on the Texas Tech Alumni Association for several years, and scream at my television at every sporting event yelling for the Red Raiders!

 

Special thanks to SeaWorld for allowing us to record Tricia and her friends.