Glory
There's a seagull trapped in oil. Its wings are slicked back and it can't move. You and a team of rescuers work for hours to clean up a coastal oil spill that's trapped dozens of birds. At the end of the day, the seagull bobs off, flies back to its nest, and continues its life.
You make a difference—and not in an inspirational poster kind of way. We're talking making a very real impact in this very real world.
This job can make you feel great. Sure, you work long hours and it's emotionally and physically draining. You will get bitten, scratched, peed on, and pooped on. There will be many days when you head home from work feeling awful because you couldn't save an injured animal's life. Maybe the animal simply passed away, or maybe you had no choice but to ease its pain and put it to sleep. Either way, your heart is definitely going to hurt sometimes.
But there are other times when you'll rescue a stranded bobcat with a broken leg, spend weeks nursing it back to health, and then release it back into the wild and watch it re-start a healthy life. And these times? They make it all worthwhile, so bask in the sense of glory you feel.