User:Pm504

Pm504 is the Wikipedia alias of Peter Menzel, a young male chemistry student at St Andrews University. He was born and brought up in England but does not consider himself to be English, as neither of his parents are English.

Early Life
I was born at the Luton & Dunstable Hospital in July 1986. I initially lived in Dunstable before my dad built a bungalow in Whipsnade in 1990. During the summer of 1991 he demolished the bungalow and built a large detached house in its place, where we have lived ever since.

Education
I initially went to St Mary's lower school in Dunstable for 4 years. I then moved to Ashton Middle School, where I stayed for 3 years before leaving the 3-tier education system of Bedfordshire to go to Aylesbury Grammar School. I spent 6 years there, gaining my GCSE's and A-Levels, as well as an offer of a place at Hertford College, Oxford.

Southampton University
Unfortunately I did not get the required grades for Oxford, so I went to Southampton University in September 2004 to study for an MChem. However, all did not go to plan. Particularly during the 2nd year, i became reclusive, neither going out nor going to lectures regularly. Consequently I failed my course. Deciding that University was not for me, I left after 2 years.

Employment
Since turning 16, I had been working at the weekends and school holidays in the Day Visitor Catering department of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Upon leaving university, I was able to work full time hours as it was then the school holidays, the busiest season of the year. However, by the winter there were less shifts available, as I only had a casual contract. The working day was also shorter as the zoo is large and unlit, and therefore only opens during daylight hours, which are naturally shorter during the winter. I therefore decided to take a night shift job at Sainsbury's from November 2006, where I was able to work full time for a higher rate of pay.

Working night shift, however, took its toll on me so in February, knowing that I would be able to work full time hours again, I returned to Whipsnade Zoo. I knew that this was not a job I could stay at forever so I started looking for a permanent career.

Finding Direction
I have always liked aeroplanes - I had previously made enquiries relating to becoming a pilot in the Navy or commercially - so, when I decided that some form of apprenticeship would be a suitable direction for me to take, I applied for one as a maintenance engineer at Monarch Air Engineering, and one as a design engineer at Airbus. However, over time and after a short course of counseling, I realised that University was what I wanted after all, but that I needed to approach it - and life in general - in a more positive manner.

Choosing St Andrews
Initially, I was looking at studying something completely different to Chemistry. A course in Mediaeval History and Philosophy at St Andrews caught my eye, so I decided to visit the university. By the time I visited in December '07, I had decided that, as my previous problems had been personal rather than course-related, and I had two years of experience under my belt, it would make sense, in fact, to study Chemistry once more. Nonetheless, I liked what I saw in St Andrews and decided to apply. As insurance choices, I also applied to Edinburgh and Durham. St Andrews was by far my first choice though, and when I received an unconditional offer in February, I immediately accepted it.

Summer 2008
Over the winter of 2007, I once again needed to work more hours than were available at the Zoo. Having left Sainsburys in the spring on good terms with the management - who heard, through my sister who also works there, that I was looking for work - I was offered a permanent job on night shift again. I had decided from my previous stint that it had been a worthwhile experience, but not one that I cared to repeat. Instead, I asked if I could work 3 evenings a week instead, to complement my hours at the Zoo. I was allowed to do this, and continued to do so until the spring, when full time hours were once more available at the Zoo.

During the 2008 season, I was given a new role within the Catering department. Having previously undertaken tasks such as serving food, washing dishes and clearing tables, I was now given more responsibility. My tasks included stock distribution between the two cafes amd the seasonal kiosks on site, restocking and collecting money from vending machines, occasional supervisory roles, and helping with stock control amongst other things. I felt that I worked hard over the summer, but not entirely effectively. I was therefore pleasantly surprised and, bearing in mind my reputation for laziness, extremely proud to find out that I was one of three people chosen to be given the opportunity to partake in the Keeper For The Day experience - with a consumer price of £250!

Keeper For The Day
Before the experience, I thought it would be one which I would enjoy, but not one that I would spend that much money on. Having taken part though, my mind has been changed. Yes it is expensive and should definitely be considered a luxury, but a luxury worth taking if you can afford to. The day involved hand-feeding rhinos, giraffes and elephants, throwing meat into the wolves' and otters' enclosures, flying a hawk, and preparing food for and feeding bongos, red river hogs and hippos.

The highlight of the day, however, was seeing the tigers being fed up-close. Meat was put into a room about 5x3 metres, while we stood in an adjacent room, viewing through a window filled by nothing but a wire fence - a very strong wire fence, may I add! Nothing beats seeing a tiger sniffing in your direction at less than an arms length! What struck me about the tigers, apart from their sheer size and power, was their behaviour. Had they been black and with no scale reference, they could have been my two cats at home. They held the horse legs with one paw whilst gnawing with the side of their jaws in exactly the same manner as a domestic cat would hold down and gnaw on a chicken leg. And when the male had finished his horse leg and started sniffing around his sisters, she raised her paw and growled much like my female cat would to her son.

Anyway, the day also includes enrichment activities - we put fruit and nuts inside bottles, which were then hidden among scrunched-up newspaper in tied-up sacks, for the chimps - and mucking out the rhinos' house. It may not sound like the most fun part of the day, and indeed it is not, but it isn't as bad as it sounds and, more to the point, it is part and parcel of being a zookeeper.

The final thing I will say of the experience is that if you are thinking about doing it but are put off by the price, just remember that all of your money will go to ZSL. They are a charity, and are major players in international conservational research and teaching, as well as participating in breeding programs for numerous endangered species. They receive no money from the government so their only income is Whipsnade and London Zoos. So by doing Keeper For The Day, not only are you having a great day, you are also making an important contribution towards conservation worldwide, including the natural habitats of some of the species that you will work with.

Just to finish the digression, I should point out that I have received no incentive to write this - indeed I doubt very much whether anybody will ever read this to know about it - and neither am I paid more than the national minimum wage when I am at the zoo. My sole purpose for writing it was because I honestly mean it.

St Andrews, at last!
Back to my life story then. 2 weeks after that experience, I was on my way to St Andrews to start my 2nd MChem degree. And that is about where I am now. 4 weeks in and all is well so far. I entered directly into the 2nd year of a 5 year course for 2 reasons. Firstly, with my previous experience I felt I would be capable of doing so and secondly, no matter how nice St Andrews is, I will be a month short of my 26th birthday upon graduation. I don't feel that I can afford to graduate at that age with only a BSc. So 2nd year it is, and so far there had been nothing challenging. I can only have nightmares about how stunningly simple - and mind numbing - I would have found the 1st year. So I think I have made the right decision.

Interests
Outside of education, my main pastime is the Tayforth UOTC. I joined mainly to be able to take advantage of the opportunities available and because I felt a need to get fit. Fitness tests have certainly verified that belief! Other attractions include being paid (to have fun!), the social life (including the mess bar, with Stella at £1 a can!) and, of course, shooting, but then what man doesn't like guns? (Don't get the wrong idea, I'm just a man, not a psycho!)

Other interests include football (Man Utd - I am related to Denis Law - and poor old Luton Town, my local club), american football (Pittsburgh Steelers for no good reason!), F1 and golf, which I started playing solely because I knew I was coming to its home! My aim is to play on The Old Course by the time I graduate.

Music
I also love listening to music. I often listen to music for anything between 6 and 12 hours per day. Having said that, plenty of people would, and indeed do, argue that what I listen to is not music. But of course it is. My taste is almost entirely on the rock/metal spectrum, but within that spectrum I would say it covers a lot of ground. I listen to everything from radio-friendly rock by bands such as Kaiser Chiefs and Maxïmo Park (but nothing with irritating high-pitched electronics) all the way up to the occasional bit of Decapitated or Mendeed. A lot of music that I listen to is centred around thrash and Gothenburg but a list of my favourite bands should highlight the variety: Feeder, Metallica, Breed 77, Sum 41, Opeth, The Haunted, Arch Enemy, SOIA, Reuben, Green Day, Maiden, Lostprophets, Machine Head, Stereophonics, Vendetta Red. . . the list goes on!