I can remember when I was in second or third grade and I saw a garter snake slithering through the grass beside my house. I remember not being afraid at all, and I just ran up to it and grabbed it up. I set it up in a cardboard box with some grass in the bottom and sat outside with it for at least an hour, just staring at it and touching it and whatnot... Then my mom called me in for dinner and when I came out, it was gone. I remember being really sad because even if it had still been there, my mom had told me I couldn't keep it anyway.

After that, I always had an interest in animals and reptiles. Around the same time, our class went to one of the high schools in our district for a tour of the biology wing, where the high school kids did presentations and hands on demonstrations with all of the animals. I remember my favorite being the "giant" burm that was about 12 feet long. They lined us up sitting against the wall with our legs stretched straight out, then they laid this snake on top of our legs and let it slither across. It was the COOLEST experience of my life to that point. I remember looking forward to being in high school just so I could be the one working with the animals and giving the demonstrations. When high school enrollment came, I asked the counselor what class it was that you got to handle the animals and do demonstrations for kids. I was told it was Environmental Education, which you couldn't take until junior year. Ugh... So, I set my academic course and make sure I took all the prerequisites to get into that class, which I ultimately did... That's when I found bps. We had one named Billy and he was the coolest snake. I used to go over to the rack and pull him out at the beginning of every class and I would have him around my neck or just hanging out with me every day until the end of class. After that, I wanted one of my own, but still, my mom wouldn't let me. I didn't ultimately get my first snake until I was 29, but I don't plan on ever being without snakes again...