Standing under a colorful Happy Hollow Zoo sign and clad in a bright orange park employee T-shirt, Alexandra “Alex” Baeckler (12) grins, the familiarity of the location a comfort to her. Alex has been going to Happy Hollow since before she could walk, eventually starting to work there when she turned 14. She works full time over the summer and two days a week during the school year.

“It really is my second home away from home. I used to go there every day when I was in a stroller, and then I started being a zoo team volunteer,” Alex said. “My 14th birthday was the last day of training so I barely made the cut off, and I feel like having that opportunity was really a turning point in my life.”

Her job at the zoo has helped her not only work with animals, but with people as well. Through working as a counselor at Happy Hollow’s summer camp, Alex has been able to further exemplify her compassionate nature.

“A big portion of working at Happy Hollow is being a camp counselor, which is definitely my favorite. I love being the camp counselor who’s leading the songs and the dances, and I love being there for my campers,” Alex said. “I’m often the one who’s pulled aside to help if a camper is crying or homesick, so I think that’s helped me really, truly connect with people.”

Alex has always believed that if she set her mind to something, anything could be possible. As the first youth member of the Happy Hollow nonprofit foundation board, Alex was personally asked to create an interactive installation at the zoo, where guests could learn how to do the signature bee waggle dance. Her “waggle dance walk” follows the method in which bees communicate with each other through dancing in a figure eight. When a bee finds a source of nectar, it communicates with its hive members by dancing. Based on these dances, bees can communicate the direction away from and distance to different food sources.

“Food, new hives, water, bees find this all through little figure eights and I’ve always been so interested in this,” Alex said. “I designed the whole project, I prototyped it, I worked with the construction team. So it was really my thing, my crown jewel.”

This project is only one piece in Alex’s plan to promote wildlife education across the world. Alex’s 10th grade marine biology teacher Dr. Kate Schafer notes her enthusiasm and passion for animal wellness.

“I hope she always keeps that enthusiastic nature and continues to explore everything that she can,” Dr. Schafer said. “Alex has so much that she’s already contributed in a positive way towards both the human world and the animal world and I have no doubt that she will continue to do that.”

All of the hobbies in Alex’s mixed bag of activities are animal centered. Not only is Alex an employee at the zoo, but she is also a horseback rider, a volunteer at a vet clinic and a certified scuba diver. She wants to be a vet in the future, an occupation that she never doubted.

“It’s always been so clear to me that this is what I want to do, [to] work with animals. From saving worms on the blacktop in lower school to working with dogs and cats [in] surgery now, it’s been a steady progression,” Alex said. “Most of my life I can pattern out by different animal experiences I’ve had, like going into different zoos, working with different animals, working at shelters. It all becomes this one continuum of my increased interest.”

Alex, whose mother owned a horse growing up, began horseback riding when she was 5 years old. Since then, she has cultivated her skills and is now the captain of her equestrian drill team, where a group of horses and riders work together to perform choreographed combinations.

“I started doing horseback riding lessons when I was little and I loved it, so I worked my way up through there and ended up learning how to interact well with the various horses, which helped me with my job at the zoo and vet as well,” Alex said.

As captain, Alex has learned to not only work alongside her teammates, but with each unique horse as well. Each horse has its own “horse-onality,” a term coined by Alex’s riding instructor that she has adopted. In order to perform smoothly, Alex needs to engage with each horse individually.

“It’s always fun going around with carrots and sugar cubes to say hi to the horses, and learning all of their personalities is really fun, because they really do all have different personalities,” Alex said. “When you finally get that connection that you’ve been working towards, when you finally mesh with them, it’s the best feeling.”

Another way in which Alex interacts with animals is through scuba diving. She was certified at 10 years old and has since had the opportunity to do various open water dives and even dive in the Maui Shark Tank. Her optimistic outlook on life and willingness to broaden her horizons has helped her be a better friend as well.

“She is always energetic and down to have fun and try new things,” Katerina Fenner (12), who has known Alex since fifth grade, said. “She has showed me how to have a positive outlook on life even in difficult situations.”

Working with both people and animals through her hobbies has helped her further solidify her knowledge when she began working at a local veterinary clinic at age 15. Whenever she’s not in school, Alex goes to work at the clinic.

“Starting to work at the vet really cemented and reaffirmed my passion towards being a vet by getting that hands on that experience, seeing the day to day and knowing that yes, this is what I want,” Alex said. “It also shifted me to be more work-oriented. Working on inventory, bookkeeping, helping with surgery, it all escalated me into adulthood and into my college life.”

Throughout her experiences, Alex hopes to use her influence to speak up for animals who do not have a voice.

“We have so many opportunities to grow and experience new things so that we can be the next leaders of the world,” Alex said. “As humans, we have a responsibility to act as caretakers and the voice of the wildlife we share this planet with, so improving animal welfare has always been my calling, to give a voice to the animals who cannot speak for themselves.”