When animals come into play, I'm normally all for it, I have a deep appreciation for most animals, though there are a few who are exceptions.

Cecil Schwalbe, a retired Herpetologist, was invited to give a lesson on Critter safety. Once we, the students, entered the classroom, I saw that most of us froze for a quick second due to an abrupt earsplitting rattling of a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.

It was common sense that Schwalbe was not planning on taking the rattlesnake out from its' box during the lecture, yet I still managed to grow nervous because of the constant rattling that rang throughout the classroom. 
 
However, to my surprise, we were presented with young tortoises; and to my relief, I reverted my attention to the new animal than focusing on the rattling. After all the students observed the tortoises up close, he revealed another reptile, his Gila Monster.

Its' name is Poncho; it seemed to be about 28 inches long and had a fork split tongue. The Gila monster itself was reserved and seem to not be fazed by his large audience. Shortly after discussing about the venomous lizard, Schwalbe decided it was time to go outside to give demonstrations regarding to the Gila Monster and the Rattlesnake.

All of the students brought cameras to Schwalbe's safety demonstration to record and capture photos. When it came time for the session to start, most of students forgot their SD cards inside the lab and had to walk back to retrieve it. Luckily I had mine in my purse and that gave me the chance to get prepared before the other students. 

Once everyone returned, Schwalbe began his presentation on how to properly catch a wild Gila Monster. Then to eventually presenting on how to capture the rattlesnake, Muffin, with a snake tong. As soon as he opened the Muffins's box, its' head peeked out as if it was feeling the air for the first time. Schwalbe properly set it down on the ground, it immediately began to slither on,

Quickly walking towards Muffin, he snatched it up and explained why it is safe to use the technique he just demonstrated. I was immediately captivated in the process as if I was soaking up every word he said. Afterwards, he put the rattlesnake into a tube to where Muffin could not cause harm; and with Schwalbe's permission, most of us took shots of Muffin up close. It was a memorable experience and now, I consider it to be one of my favorites so far. 

When I applied for the Diversity Journalism Workshop, I had a half idea of what to expect.

Arriving to Gila Hall, semi late, I eagerly wondered how this workshop experience would affect me. Making my way to my dorm, I was greeted with my roommate's and I names stuck onto our door. Sooner after, I realized that my roommate had already set up her side of the room and I quickly put my stuff away, so that I would be in time for orientation,

My parents and I made our way to the common room, to where other campers were waiting with there parents. Knowing that I was not going to be alone in this program, I saw Nadira come into the room five minutes later. I've known Nadira for about a year; we met as reporters at the Cactus Chronicle at our school.

The rest of the morning seemed to pas as a blurb. Our parents said their goodbyes and the workshop dove straight into working. Story pitches came first and I had no idea of what to pitch, so I ended up winging it. It was not my best strategy, but it worked for the moment. The impulsive action managed to give me time to research a better, interesting topic that grasped my attention.

Afterwards, we had a quick photo lesson with one of the mentors, Simon Garelick-Mettler, then soon after took off to downtown! Downtown is right across from my school and it was nothing new to me because I've seen it all. I was not particularly interested in snapping photos of 4th Avenue because of visiting numerous times, nothing caught my attention anymore. For the rest of the trip, we ventured around in the summer heat for, what it felt like, about 2 hours. At the time, I was not for it because of the scorching sun beaming down on my back felt like I was being cooked in an oven. Frankly, the idea of wanting to go back to my dorm to sleep was only on my mind, however, the week had just began. .