As a student who had never done a study abroad program before, but always wanted to, St Petersburg College really came through for me when I was awarded a study abroad scholarship. The scholarship helped fund my trip to Thailand to work with elephants at a wild life sanctuary. It was a trip that I … Continue reading Receiving an SPC Study Abroad Scholarship Allowed Me to Study Abroad →

The first week I was volunteering in Thailand I was lucky enough to volunteer with the wildlife group; this includes, but is not limited to, gibbons, bears, otters, deer, hogs, iguanas, and many others that my brain cant comprehend. There were so many to take care of that there were roughly 30-40 volunteers just feeding … Continue reading Feeding and Observing the Adorable Bears in Thailand →

I thought it would be nice to touch on some of the domestic animals experiences that I had while in Thailand. Let me preface by saying that, as a predominantly Buddhist country, Thailand’s view of animal care is much different from ours, as a whole. As expected, Thai people have a strong respect for animals. … Continue reading SPC Study Abroad Students Building Bonds with the Domestic Animals of WFFT →

One of my favorite tasks I did while in Thailand was walking elephants. Only certain elephants got to have walks periodically throughout the day. I was lucky enough to walk 2 of those elephants in one day! We would prepare for our walks by chopping up a variety of fruits such as pineapple, watermelon, and … Continue reading Walking elephants on my SPC Study Abroad experience →

Feeding these gentle giants was quite the different experience. We started off our work days by making their food (banana balls) and feeding them. Banana balls are just 3 simple ingredients: bananas, bran, and food pellets. We would mash these ingredients together with our hands and make jokes with each other while doing so. Then, … Continue reading My experience feeding gentle giants in Thailand on my SPC Study Abroad program →

My second week at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand was with the elephants and it really was fantastic. I’m mostly going to talk about my time at “the hospital” because these elephants were the first elephants I worked with and I really loved working with them. Chokdee and Malai Ngun live at the hospital and they … Continue reading Working with Elephants at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand →