12 Aug Prepping for Presentations!

As part of my internship I have to present to my park staff. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous! The truth is, public speaking is one of my biggest fears. As a graduate student, I have had to do a lot of this, which has been one of the biggest challenges I have faced. However, greatness comes from times of discomfort, right? You can’t achieve success if you stay in your comfort zone and never have a chance to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. So, I often put myself into the lion’s cage, which often follows with a thought that goes kind of like this, “What did I get myself into!?” However, there are hardly ever any regrets. I not only have to do a presentation for my park next week, but I also volunteered to present at the regional office in San Francisco and present a poster at our workshops in Colorado. I hope that one day I can say, “I have done so many presentations that they no longer faze me as much.” Of course, presenting will probably always be a stressor, however we all have to learn to take that stress and peresevere through it. Like true champions! My presentations will be about the public involvement plan that I have created for the land use effort plan that is being initiated at my park. It includes many participation objectives and mechanisms for how to increase involvement from the public. A key facet of my plan includes ways to broaden our audience and diversify! Wish me luck, and I can’t wait to meet everyone in Colorado!