Meet Mr. Alfredo Noodle, or Alphie for short. Alphie constantly makes me laugh. He dunks his entire head in the water bowl to take a drink and frequently attempts to add me to the stash of toys he hides under the dresser.

Ferrets are happiest when kept with others, so I soon adopted Hershey. Hershey’s favorite hobby is burrowing under blankets, in drawers full of clothes or in the pit of dry beans I made especially for him.

The two quickly accepted one another.

When a friend contacted me for help rescuing a litter of newborn kittens, I took in Daphne when she was only a few weeks old. Daphne learned many behaviors from her brothers and acts more like a ferret than a cat. 

I have since adopted Pretzel as well. Pretzel loves tunnels. Even though he has several perfectly sized tunnels, he will try to squeeze into any cylinder and is known to get stuck. 

When the ferrets are not jumping around and causing chaos, they are sleeping.

I have also recently rescued another kitten whom I have named Chicken. Chicken is my spunkiest animal. She loves to play with her brothers and break into cabinets.

With three ferrets and two cats surrounding me, my household never lacks affection and is certainly never bland!

The photos in this feature were provided by the author.

But after many years of avoidance, I finally mustered up the courage to take a long-awaited family trip. The wonderful spring-like weather in early February allowed the perfect chance to avoid the unpleasant sweatiness. Not only that, I was excited to see the new aquarium building! In September of 2023, The Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium introduced The Sobela Aquarium to the public (along with a name change). Although I didn’t make it to every part of the park, I made sure to check out the aquatic habitats along with a few surprise mammals.

My first stop was the Stingray Bay touchpool to pet the Cownose rays and Southern stingrays. I wasn’t sure what they would feel like at first, but after petting the first one, I felt a little dumb for thinking they would be anything but slimy!

Next, I walked around the Australia section of the Zoo. Here, I got to see lots of birds, kangaroos, wallabies, dingoes, camels and more! Most of the animals in this area were napping, but I had a silly interaction with an Australian Straw-Necked Ibis.

Around the corner from “Australia” was the Tiger Trail, home of the new Sumatran Tiger, Phoebe. She was very vocal since it was time for her lunch, and as she grew more and more impatient, she even tried opening the door herself!

Down the path from Phoebe’s habitat, I had the strangest experience of my life. At the Orangutan exhibit, I think I made a new friend. As Kalijon the orangutan spun around on her makeshift swing, she and I made eye contact. Next thing I knew, with my hand on the glass, she gave me the best high five!

After such a bizarre interaction, it was finally time to loop around to the Sobela Aquarium building with 34 different habitats. Here, I immediately fell in love with a cute sea turtle. Everything looked so relaxing. There were so many different styles of tanks: overhead tanks, cylindrical tanks, circular window tanks, and tons more — all wonderfully decorated.

My absolute favorite part of the Sobela Aquarium was the jellyfish room. Here, I saw five species of jellyfish, but the ethereal South American Sea Nettle mesmerized me.

Of course, I couldn’t conclude my visit without a trip to the gift shop! Although there were so many options to choose from, I settled on a sea turtle plushie to remember the sea turtle I saw in the aquarium and a wolf plushie because I thought it looked cute.

This was one of the best visits I’ve ever had, and I will definitely be going again very soon! I can confidently say that I no longer dread the Zoo. I can’t wait to see Kalijon again and make friends with even more animals.

The following photos were submitted by senior Kari Tott, featuring an anonymous model. Tott showcases the singer, dancer and model in her photos to display the versatility of one location.Each of these photos are taken at the same location but given the illusion of several locations.

The following pictures were submitted by freshman Regan Burgess, featuring St. Pete’s Beach in Florida minutes before a tropical storm, alongside the views from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She also photographed a butterfly— which she describes as looking identical to the emoji — that flew near her face and landed right on the leaf.

The following photos were submitted by freshman Koda Payton, who describes the last photo — his favorite — as “a gothic being looking longingly out of a church.” The first photo is of Koda’s cat, Squish, as he yawns in the afternoon light.