21 Jun Hello and Welcome to my Blog!

Bienvenidos,

My name is Vanessa Colegio and this summer I will be serving as an intern with the National Park Service coordinating volunteer outreach and recruitment.

I was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and raised in Laredo, Texas. For those of you who may not be familiar, Laredo is located in South Texas, which is border town with Mexico. I am proud to say that I am a recent first generation graduate from Texas A&M International University in Laredo where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. During my time at TAMIU I was fortunate enough to work at my university, while at the same time pursuing my degree. I worked for the Office of Student Conduct and Community Engagement where I gained knowledgeable skills such as coordinating volunteer events, recruiting individuals, keeping record of service hours, submitting individual service hours of those who are eligible to earn the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. These and much more acquired skills are beneficial for my current internship position. I also worked as a Parent and Family Orientation Leader for various summers where I introduced freshman and transfer students into their new “University” life. Being an international I was lucky enough to meet students and parents from all over the world who came to TAMIU to further their education, this is what makes my university pretty unique.

My primary focus during my internship with NPS is to recruit volunteers with diverse backgrounds targeting Latinos and individuals who are multilingual. My goal is to introduce these individuals to the life of service by giving back to the community, at the same time helping us beautify the parks which are visited by tourists all year around!

I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you all during my time in D.C.

Stay tuned for more blogs!