Who I am

Hello, my name is Sarah Ballentine and I am a Biology major with a concentration in Pre-Veterinary Science at UT. I am also on the path to minor in both Math and Chemistry. When I first started out at UT I felt a void growing because I had so much free time that I wanted to dedicate towards volunteering. Fortunately for me, my family moved from Maryland to Orlando when I started school at UT in the Fall of 2013, providing me with a car. Now as a Sophomore, I am a current volunteer with almost 2,000 hours of service dedicated to the world's largest accredited sanctuary for big cats, Big Cat Rescue. This facility has become my new home in Tampa and the people involved with the organization are my second family. I enjoy being outside with nature, working towards educating the public on the exotic cat illegal trade and the hardships the current animals of Big Cat have endured before they came into our care. After graduating UT in 2017 (hopefully) I plan to go to veterinary school and work to become an exotic veterinarian specialized in surgery. After that, I am hoping to travel and work with locals in the many countries where animal conflict occurs. By the end of my life I plan to have started and maintained a working animal sanctuary dedicated to rescue, rehabilitation, and release of exotic animals, large and small. I strive to find harmony between the many species of lifeforms on this planet and the superior homo sapien, because each living thing has earned the right to also live and flourish on this planet.