14 Jul Making Memories

Hola Amigos! It’s scary (and quite sad if I may add) to think that I will be done with my internship in about a month. Since being here, I have learned so much and feel like I have gotten so much closer to achieving my goals. Honestly, if anyone would have told me that I would be working at a National Park, I would have told you that you were completely out of your mind. I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but what I do know is that I will be cherishing this experience for as long as I live. This week has been pretty calm so far. The weather has been a little bit odd with lots of rain here and there, the sun fighting to come out, and some crazy but very beautiful thunder and hail storms. Amidst the weather, the spirits are always high here at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve. Yesterday July 9th was the highlight of my week. I finally got to give one of my programs, which I hadn’t been able to do because of storms. I was pretty nervous, because I was scared that I wouldn’t know the answers to the questions visitors ask when I encounter them. The Lakeshore Chat is a program which takes place up at Phelps Lake and is mainly driven by visitors questions. The goal of the program is obviously to answer the questions visitors may have but also to educate them on the history of the land, about Mr. Rockefeller himself and about everything and anything having to do with the Preserve in itself. Even though it was my first real time giving the program, I was coached by my supervisor Clay and one of the other rangers who I work with, Laura. Being coached can often time be very intimidating and nerve racking, but I felt very comfortable having them both around. On our hike back down, they were able to give me some amazing feedback on things I could do to make it better and let me talk about things that went well. I know that I may brag about my team here at the LSRP too much but the reality is that they really are a bunch of great people who do such a great job uplifting and encouraging you. In addition to my successful Lakeshore Chat program, a group of the other park employees and  I went to Victor just about an hour from Jackson, Wyoming. Victor is the largest city in Teton County in Idaho with a population of about 1,900 people. We had heard about a musical festival called Music on Main that hosts different music artists every Thursday for about 8 weeks during the summer. Last night a group called Blitzen Trapper sang a couple songs. To be completely honest, none of us knew anything about the group but it was fun to be able to hang out and explore different parts of the area even if just for a couple hours. At first it started raining but after a little while it completely cleared up  and we all got to see not only a pretty awesome rainbow but the sunset as well. As far as this upcoming week goes, I know I’m going to have some pretty amazing stories for all of you so keep an eye out for the next blog post.       Au revoir friends!