NSU Horizons Fall 2018

30 NSU HORIZONS NSU Alumna Lands Her Dream Job as a Diver at Walt Disney World’s Iconic Aquarium Just three years after graduating from NSU, Tylia Hernandez is living her dream job, and checking it off her bucket list. As a dive master at The Seas with Nemo and Friends at Walt Disney World, Hernandez spends much of her day in the water doing what she loves. “I always wanted to be a diver. I always wanted to work at Disney, and I always wanted to work at the aquarium. That was my goal. It’s my dream job,” said Hernandez, who graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and a minor in marine ecology from NSU’s Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. Located inside Epcot, the 5.7-million-gallon saltwater aquarium is home to more than 1,800 sea creatures, including sea turtles, dolphins, stingrays, sharks, and a variety of fish species. As a diver, Hernandez leads guided tours for snorkelers and certified scuba divers inside the giant saltwater aquarium– the second largest in the U.S. Hernandez has dreamed of working there since she was a little girl visiting Disney World every year with her family from Puerto Rico. “For me, the aquarium is very iconic,” she said. “I remember walking down the hallway leading into the aquarium and saying, ‘someday I’m going to be in there.’” Hernandez worked toward that goal by landing an internship at Disney during her senior year at NSU. She was assigned to oversee children’s activities at the Old Key West Resort, coincidentally, the same resort where she stayed during family visits. After extending the internship, Hernandez was hired by Disney in 2016 to work at the Typhoon Lagoon Water Park managing the aquatic animals who lived there. When the lagoon animals later moved to the Epcot aquarium, Hernandez moved with them. Before moving to the dive team, Hernandez worked as aquarium husbandry associate. There, she assisted in daily feeds and behavioral training of the stingrays in the aquarium. Along with a partner, she prepared their daily diets–comprised of more than 120 pounds of food every morning. “All of our animals are target trained so they know exactly where to go to eat,” Hernandez said. “Sharks and turtles are fed at the surface. The stingrays are fed in the water during our fish-feed dive. They’re very aware of their surroundings. When we present the target, they know it’s time to eat. “It was just amazing to be in the water with them. After I fed the animals, I’d swim back to our platform and I would see all the little kids at the window. They were so amazed and so excited to be there. I always came out of the water with a big smile on my face.” Coming Full Circle Not that many years ago, Hernandez was one of those kids. “I lived on an island, so I always knew that I liked the ocean. But those visits to the aquarium were very much what sparked my interest in the science aspect. It made me think that this could actually be a career path for me. I became a certified scuba diver when I was 14 because I had seen the divers there.” Growing up in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Hernandez walked on the beach with her grandfather, who pointed out the changing tides and forming tide pools, and picked up sea urchins or tiny crabs along the way. For her 15th birthday, Hernandez declined her parents’ offer of a quinceañera party in favor of a trip to Disney, where she made her first dive in the aquarium. “I knew right then I wanted to pursue this as a career,” she said. “I remember turning around to my dive master and saying jokingly, ‘I’m going to take your job someday.’ I feel like I’ve come full circle.” BY KATHLEEN KERNICKY ALUMNI PROFILE Diving into Disney