2021 Year in Review: Maliahfaye Carroll, Front-desk Coordinator

It’s time to look back on 2021! Check our blog between Christmas and New Year’s for a variety of stories and memories of 2021 from the staff and volunteers of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

This year held such importance to me, it’s truly a year I will never forget.  

I spent most of my life in hospitals all throughout my childhood and early adulthood. Jumping from one specialist to another. Missing milestones kids my age were all surpassing. Being bedridden and abandoning my passions was something that I had to accept very early on in life. Now as an adult, though in remission, it’s hard to fall in love with something. It’s hard to put energy and fire into things because I spent so much time being unable to. I never had something I wanted to put the risk into.

I found a small little wildlife rehabilitation center in my hometown in California and suddenly everything was worth the risk. Eventually, that passion lead me to Virginia, to WCV. Everything just made sense. I wasn't afraid to jump and I wasn't afraid to be passionate. I had finally found my place in this world after being so unsure, and so afraid of finding where that may be.

When you grow up sick, it’s hard to get attached to people and to places. Not all places are easily accessible for someone with disabilities and sometimes it’s hard to keep up. The acceptance and love for all walks of life here encompassed me entirely since the moment I arrived. I've met some of the most wonderful people while being here, some that will always hold the warmest of places in my heart. I am able to grow at my own pace while never feeling like I am being left behind. Every question, and boy are there many, is answered with the same enjoyment and enthusiasm to educate, even when absolutely exhausted. The young girl inside of me is finally able to do all the things she imagined as she laid in that hospital bed watching National Geographic. She would be so elated to know that life gets better and that fire will still exist inside her. 

The woman I am now is so proud to be a part of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. I've captured and medicated a Bald Eagle, handled a dinosaur (I mean Snapping Turtle), assisted the Vet team, bottle-fed White-tailed Deer, and so so much more. The skills I've learned, the awe-inspiring people I've come across, and the absolutely magnificent creatures that we get to help every day that come through those doors ... will always be worth the risk. With all the uncertainty of life there's one thing I am certain of ... that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am home. 

-- Maliahfaye Carroll, Front-desk Coordinator

Check out all of our year-in-review posts!

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