On the subject of serendipity... one of the best kinds of work I ever did, I never expected or even imagined I would do. That was my one season as an interpretive naturalist. I had submitted an application for employment to the local zoo. The director of a brand new nature center in the same park as the zoo found my application in the zoo's files, and he contacted me and offered me the job. I am forever grateful for that one. And the nature center job got my foot in the door (so to speak) for the zookeeper job.