The first Tuesday of each month, we interview someone from Charlotte Latin Athletics with twenty questions to help the CLS community get to know some of our athletes, coaches, and supporters a bit better.
 
In one of our most unique interviews yet, senior cheerleader Darby Collins shares a bit about her life as part of a family that runs a zoo. As cool as that sounds, it's a lot of work. Her days start early and, especially on game nights, end late. Read on to learn a bit about her passion for animals and how she juggles her extensive responsibilities between home, school, and cheer.
 
1. What is Darby Acres Farm and Darby Safari?  
It's our family business. My mom actually has three companies: a real estate business, a wedding décor and planning business, and the zoo. My mom is always busy and my dad is a retired state trooper who works for my mom and says he works harder now than he ever did before. The zoo and the wedding business (Darby Décor) are both named after me.
 
2. Is it an actual zoo? What kind of animals do you have?
We have over 300 animals and about 98 species, which is a lot. There are llamas, alpacas, camels, horses, lemurs, kangaroos, porcupines, monkeys, otters, and pigs, chickens, and bunnies. My mom grew up with sheep and that's what we started with, but then she requested equine animals that required a federal license so she got that and eventually things grew. Our first exotic (animal) was a camel. I was around eight or nine years old and it was delivered around Christmas time in this huge box on a trailer and I thought it was a present. I remember bottle feeding it and thinking it was the best thing in the world. After that, my mom started getting primates, like monkeys and lemurs, but it wasn't until I was 10 or 12 that we opened it to the public and started showing people our animals. Now we do scheduled tours and there are three or four a day.  
 
3. What is your role in the family business?
In a normal week, my weekdays are all zoo. Saturday and Sunday depend on what Mom has scheduled. If she has a wedding, we might be setting up on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., then we go back at 11 p.m. to clean up. There might be another event on Sunday. If we don't have a wedding, we'll have tours and there's always feeding, cleaning, and food prep to do. If someone has an abscess, needs deworming or wound care, stuff like that, we do that on the weekend as well.
 
4. School hasn't started yet, but fall cheer practice has. How does that impact your schedule?  
This morning, I woke up at 5:30 and made eight different baby bottles. I fed our baby genet (an African cat), let our baby fox out, fed our squirrel monkey, fed our baby marmoset, then the two baby otters, then my spider monkey, and then let the dogs out. I diapered my babies this morning too. Then I had to get ready and left to be at cheer practice by 8:00. Usually, I only have to give two bottles but we got two new babies in yesterday, that's why there's so many.
 
5. Did you say you diapered your babies?
Yes. She roams free in our house, so she has to wear a diaper. Percy, the squirrel monkey, he's seven months old and he has the tiniest diaper so it's really hard to get on. April, the spider monkey, she's six months old and there's an eight-pound difference between those two. Phoebe is a capuchin. She's around three years old and she gets very jealous because I have to focus a lot of my attention on the two babies. She'll start yelling if she sees me holding them; she's definitely not happy about it. She usually loves babies though.
 
6. Would you say the monkeys are your favorite? Do you have a least favorite?  
The monkeys are my favorite. My mom calls me the Monkey Mom in the zoo. They come to us when they're young and tend to bond with one person, so now I have three that are all bonded to me. I'm not a really big fan of kangaroos. We have seven and Griffin, our male, is really big. He's 6'2 and around 225 pounds. Our females are a little under five feet when they stand up. When they have babies, and they have babies a lot, we raise them in a pouch – literally a purse – then they get placed at other zoos. My least favorite is a rescue macaw that has a serious hatred for me. He's a big green parrot-looking bird but he can't fly so he gets on the ground and charges at me and tries to bite my toes. His name is Taco.
 
7. Do all the animals have names? All 300 of them? Who comes up with all those names?
Taco was already named when we got him, but yes, we name them all. Some are really hard to keep track of, like the bunnies and the chickens. But I know all of the ducks' names and I probably know more than 200 of the animals by name. I like to give animals names that are human names, but I can't name any of them the same names as my friends. It's going to make it really hard when I have kids because I've already used so many names.
 
8. How do you handle it when animals die?  
I had to learn from an early age that it's not my fault. We are very committed to our animals and take great care of them. I feed them with bottles and give them medicine. I am very integrated into caring for them, so it's very hard to lose them. Sometimes, when they have cancer or something, it helps to know they'll be better off and not in pain. My family is very good at talking through those things. It gives us comfort to know we do everything we possibly can to give them their best chance.
 
9. You do not live nearby, so how did you come to Latin?
We live in the Mt. Holly, Huntersville area, so it's about a 40-45 minute drive. I went to Charlotte Prep from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, and Latin has a great reputation there. I toured a few high school options and Latin just kind of had everything. I enrolled here for ninth grade and wanted a way to be part of sports but I am not athletically inclined. I had done cheer in middle school, so I talked to Coach Atwell and she was super inviting, so I thought, "Okay, I can do this." Meeting the girls on the team at summer practices definitely helped me feel more comfortable starting school.
 
10. What have been some of your favorite classes or most impactful teachers?  
I love all science. A did AP bio last year and it was really fun. It was super hard, but when I walked out of that class, I felt like I had gotten something done and was three times smarter. Dr. Gee is such a great teacher and so kind. And Mrs. Morrow. When I came into her class freshman year, I was scared, but she made me feel very comfortable. She is all about girls in STEM and her classes are very hands-on. It's cool to see the stuff you work on come together. Mr. Bibby was also great. I was not a fan of history but A-push with him was one of the first times history became engaging. He also got me talking during class and being more active in the classroom.
 
11. How do you manage what sounds like a heavy courseload, your commitment to cheering through two seasons, a lengthy commute, and a lot of responsibility at work, which is also part of your home?  
I like being busy. I like to physically be doing something and see the result. I get bored easily if I'm not doing stuff, which I definitely inherited from my mom. But it is a lot. Getting schoolwork done can be tough and I try to multitask. When I get home, I immediately eat, feed the monkeys, then do my schoolwork while I play with them. Mom eventually has to take them away from me so I can actually get work done. During the week, especially on a Friday, if I have the zoo and a wedding that weekend, I really try to get schoolwork done throughout the day and before games.
 
12. How have you seen the cheer program evolve since you were a freshman?
Everything was still new to us in our freshman year. We weren't sure what we were capable of and we really didn't push past what we were comfortable with. But these past two years, we've been building strength and become much more than just being a presence at game day. We've grown and bonded, and started developing higher level skills. We did a pyramid skill last year that was a show-and-go to a switch-up lib, and that is something I never thought we'd do. It's amazing to see all of that progression and we want to keep learning and growing.
 
13. There's a variety of skills and experience on the squad. Does that make it challenging?   
We start with very basic stuff, even for experienced girls, so we are on this level platform at the beginning of the year. It's very teachable and the new girls this year have caught up really quick. Then we start progressing people as they're able, and even if we're trying something that is super advanced, no one is excluded. Coach Atwell is really big on not getting discouraged if others are doing more advanced skills and reminds us that we're all very capable. Eventually, everyone is able to say they're involved in stunting.
 
14. Have you narrowed down what you're looking for after Latin?  
I don't want to be in a large city and want something with a smaller feel, even if it's a bigger school. I'm really interested in Clemson, NC State, and Virginia Tech. I'm also going to tour South Carolina and Georgia. I want to be a vet, but I don't really want to learn about cats and dogs. I want to be an exotic vet so I can help the animals I have. And I need to be close to home so I can come back on the weekends to work.
 
15. What are you looking forward to most about senior year?   
I'm excited for football season with cheer. I feel like this year, our senior class has a lot of spirit and will bring a lot of energy. The anticipation of college is scary, but also really exciting. And I'm looking forward to things like the senior retreat and the other senior traditions that I've always heard about.
 
16. Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Both, but preferably an early bird. I don't enjoy staying up late
 
17. What's a hobby, talent or skill that you have that most people don't know about?
I'm weirdly good at archery. That's something I figured out during Covid.
 
18.  What's been your favorite Latin sports moment so far?
It was definitely the football game at Charlotte Christian when we won on the field goal as the clock ran out. We were not expected to win and it was so exciting. That was really cool to see every grade come together and celebrate.
 
19. Do you have any traditional pets?
Yes, we have several dogs. Two outside as guard dogs and three inside. My baby is a Great Dane rescue named Cyrus. All of our Great Danes have been named after Greek Gods. He's almost a year and he's about 130 pounds, which is tiny compared to what we're used to.
 
20. What is your dream job?
I guess being a vet. I can't really think of myself doing anything else other than caring for animals.