Haha, well at least we will know someone! I had the interview for my present course with a girl who i didnt know, and who is now my closest friend at college and it deffo helped that we knew someone as she is quite shy and struggles to make friends. :-)
Knowsley Safari Park sounds a brill place to work, i would love to do something like that prior to actually getting to LJMU, but with childcare and travelling to the nearest zoo (Blackpool) its not really realistic for me. Plus my tutors havee encouraged me to go for the large scholarship offered by LJMU, so im planning on trying to get a fair bit of volunteering done too, as well as setting up a website to help people with cats affected with FLUTD (first hand experience ofthat, unfortunately) so busy busy busy :-)
Have you looked into scholarships etc?