This video shows scenes of a student in an internship at Southwick’s zoo, along with his trainer and mentor.
The video opens with Ori Cohen, a student walking on the Brandeis campus. Ori says, “I think I've always really liked animals since I was a kid. I grew up watching David Attenborough's deep sea documentaries, so I always knew that I love animals on land and on sea.” As Ori speaks we see some shots of various animals in the wild, a stingray, fish, elephants, a chameleon, wolves and a mountain lion. We hear music that sounds mystical with sounds of nature.
We see Ori talking to a parrot and handling birds as he says, “I've always found animals very interesting and very cool and just working with them has really solidified that where I cherish working with them, I love learning more and learning as much as I can about them.” We then see a couple of shots of some birds at the zoo and we hear the music pick up.
We see Ori talking to the camera as he says, “My name is Ori Cohen. I’m a rising junior here at Brandeis. I’m an intern at Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Massachusetts.” We then see Ori interacting with some birds as he continues “I’ve always known that I really like animals, and I’ve been considering working with them, but I haven’t had too much experience.” We then see Ori again on camera. Ori continues: “But I didn’t really know that that could be a career option. And then after working at the zoo with these animals, I realized that I really do love animal care. So I have been considering that being a future career path that I think I might stick with.” We then see shots of Ori feeding a parrot and we transition to the title of the story “ Ori Cohen/Training with Birds”. The music fades.
We hear an upbeat, jazzy song as we see some shots of the zoo and visitors walking. We hear the voice of Danielle Larson, the curator of birds in training at Southwick’s Zoo: “So we’re down here at Southwick’s Zoo, right outside of the Bird Show Arena where we provide the public with bird presentations. We can give them an interactive experience and teach them all about primarily parrots, but a couple other species of birds.” As she talks we see shots of her interacting with Ori and teaching him how to work with birds. She continues: “Teaching Ori has been amazing. I would say a lot of times interns come in with little expectations. They’re not really sure exactly what their day is going to consist of or look like and it’s really nice to see them start to grow and become more and more comfortable.”
We then see Ori on camera as he says, “I’ve learned so much from this internship I mean, I’ve learned how to interact with animals in general. I’ve learned a lot about training and conditioning because Brandeis really set me up for that in teaching me like the classroom aspect of that. But actually practicing it is a whole different thing.” While Ori speaks we see shots of him walking at Brandeis and going into a room, pulling out his laptop and starting to work. We hear Ori as he continues to talk: “And in the real world you’re like, Oh, Okay, the animal does not want to do this. They’re saying, no, how do I work with them to make sure that they learn this and they understand this.” Music fades down.
We then cut to a shot of Danielle talking to Ori in the bird arena, Danielle says, “Why don’t we do a wave? Yeah, try a wave. And you don’t have to go up close to him. Just kind of get in front of him and his line of vision. And do remember, if you wave with your...” Danielle’s voice fades down and we hear Ori talking again to the camera, he says, “I’ve had to learn all this specific animal’s body language like for example, our male eclectus parrot, Ernie, has vastly different body language than Russell, our crow. Yes, his name is Russell Crowe. It’s amazing. I love him. So you have to learn those specific animal behaviors.” We then see shots of Ori working with parrots. He continues: “And then you have to work with that if you’re training them or just monitoring them in general and moving them anything, you have to learn that. But each of the birds I’ve worked with, I’ve learned how to understand a lot of tiny signals.”
We hear a soothing, nature sounding song with different shots of parrots. We then see some shots of a trainer working with parrots and then Danielle interacting with birds. She says, “The thing I most love about birds is that they’re incredibly smart. I think there’s so much to learn about them, and it’s a really fun journey, being able to learn about them and get to know their personalities.” We then cut back to Ori as he speaks to the camera. He says, “I have learned a lot and I’ve learned how to work with animals and I’ve learned the basic skills that I need in order to work with animals again or just any career.” We see some shots of Ori interacting with birds as he continues: “I’ve also learned a lot about my own learning style. I understand how I function better in a workplace that is constantly being on the move and constant improvisation.” We see some shots of Ori closing a door leading to the bird arena and the music fades down.
We then hear a hip, mellow song playing as we see some shots of the zoo. We then see Danielle on camera and shots of Ori and Danielle feeding a bird. Danielle says, “I think it’s really important to have hands-on experience, especially when it comes to training, because we definitely provide opportunities to learn that you can’t just get in a classroom setting.” We then hear Ori speaking as we see shots of him interacting with Danielle and the birds. He says, “Internships in general are very useful because they’re kind of like you trying out a job where first off, it gives you basic skills for your future job as well as letting you try out. Is this something I really want? So if I hadn’t done this, I would have no idea and I’d still be in my head about; am I good enough or will this work out? So I think any internship is really useful because it not only gives you basic skills to work in the workforce, but it also lets you feel more confident in yourself and feel more comfortable knowing what you want out of a job and what you’re interested in for that job. So it really helps you narrow down your interests and pursue them.” We then see some shots of Ori feeding a bird and then a last shot of Ori holding a bird and looking at the camera and then the Brandeis logo comes in.
We then see a shot of the Louis Brandeis statue while the credits roll. The shot and the music fade down and the video ends.
Interviews
Ori Cohen
Danielly Larson
Special Thanks to
Southwick’s Zoo
Producer/Editor/Videographer
Jonathan Duran
Executive Producer
Dan Kim
Julie Jette