Two Oceans Aquarium volunteers Bronwyn Cinnamon and her fiancé have always loved the ocean and the outdoors, and joining the volunteer programme at the Aquarium was their logical next step. Bronwyn tells us of her experience at the Aquarium.
I was so nervous on my first day at the Aquarium, but this work has become so important as we can have a positive and enriching effect on the world.
There’s such energy at the Aquarium, and the volunteers seemed so happy to work long hours with very little sleep – particularly on Friday nights when we had so much to cram in before our Saturday assessment.
Studying and training for our work at the Aquarium took over our lives. In the car, on walks, we were always reading, discussing, learning. If only we had known that much of the task of building ourselves into a dream team that could help educate, create smiles and generate an interest in our oceans was there already, subconsciously.
A particularly treasured memory is the day we went to the beach to put our new knowledge into practice – there were three little girls playing at the tidal pool, and the youngest was intrigued by what she learnt from her “clever big sister”, as she called me.
The weeks flew by, strong friendships were built and the day of the final assessment came and went – and we could finally go out and start volunteering.
But that excitement was tempered by such sadness at having to say goodbye.
I cannot thank the following Aquarium staff enough: deputy head of education Bianca Engel; PA to the head of education Katja Rockstroch; and senior educator Xavier Zylstra.
Stay in touch: For daily Aquarium updates, follow us on Twitter (@2OceansAquarium) and become a fan on Facebook.
