Wildlife Care and Handling: An Academic Minor that Expands Our Reach

Academic minors provide universities with a flexible mechanism to broaden curricular reach, attract diverse students, and integrate experiential learning. The Wildlife Care and Handling Minor, established at the University of X in 2015, illustrates how a minor can foster professional, academic, and personal growth while preparing students for animal care. The program combines coursework, structured externships, and reflective writing, requiring more than 200 hours of service in institutions managing captive wildlife. This study analyzes 121 student reflections from the capstone externship course. Thematic analysis revealed consistent patterns across four domains. Professionally, students described the Minor as confirming ambitions, redirecting career goals, or expanding horizons to fields such as environmental education, raptor work, or animal law. Academically, it bridged theory and practice, strengthened graduate preparation, clarified interests, and fostered transferable skills in communication and leadership. Personally, students reported growth in resilience, empathy, and ethical awareness, shaped by challenges in living arrangements, cultural adaptation, and compassion fatigue. Advice to future participants emphasized exploration, preparation, professionalism, adaptability, and mentorship, reflecting peer support. Collectively, findings show the WCH Minor as both proving ground and pivot point, enabling students to test identities, integrate learning, and cultivate maturity. The program offers a transferable model for experiential, reflective education that prepares graduates who are thoughtful, resilient, and ethically grounded.