25 Oct Saying Goodbye to Grand Canyon

Well the time has finally come for me to say goodbye to Grand Canyon, well for now at least. Considering I go to school at Northern Arizona University and it is around a 1hour and 20 min drive, I could visit Grand Canyon anytime I want. However I am saying goodbye to working there this summer, this has been an experience of a lifetime that I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to get. I chose to go into the field of environmental science, because of opportunities like this to be in the field. And for the hope that one day I could be the one to be the one making change for our planet. As an environmentalist and future climate activist it is important to get opportunities in the fields so I can continue to educate myself but others as well.

Throughout this internship I have learned a lot of things. I learned a lot about myself, like how to be more okay with doing things solo, as well as how to speak up in the workplace. There have been many times in my life where a situation has occurred and I have been to afraid to say anything for fear of being not taken seriously, but this internship allowed me to be in these situations and speak up in them. I now have a lot more confidence in the workplace. I learned that it is okay to sometimes be assertive when you need things done, and before this internship I probably would not have done any of these things.

I have made a great amount of memories as well as friends. I feel like I have a whole scrapbook of great memories that I gained this summer, I could probably make a super cool short film. I also got so lucky to have had an amazing crew that welcomed me with open arms and never treated me any different for being an intern instead of a NPS employee. I looked forward to our morning meetings everyday where we could go over our plans for the day, it felt like a tight knit family. I have a new amount of connections throughout the National Park Service that I know will be there for me if I reach out to them for anything.

I guess all I have to say now is a thank you. Thank you to LHIP and EFTA for allowing me these opportunities. Thank you to the rest of the LHIP interns for being amazing people, I had so much fun getting to meet and know all of you in Washington D.C I really miss that trip sometimes. Thank you to my vegetation crew Tara, Jim, Cam, Dan, Tania, for allowing me to join your fantastic crew and work with such great people. Thank you to my supervisors Lonnie and Annie for supporting me throughout this journey and helping me further myself in the workplace, I could not have done everything without y’all. Thank you to Juan Pablo, for letting me come up to Dinosaur and see what your internship consisted of and for also being an amazing support system throughout this internship. I can’t wait for our article to be published, and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else. Thank you to my friends and family for always supporting me throughout this journey, I love you guys. And lastly thank you to my mother, for whom I could not have done this internship without. She raised me to love the earth and we started our monarch journeys together. This whole internship was possible because of you, so thank you momma. Te amo con todo mi corazón.

My monarch journey doesn’t end here, and who knows I might be back next year for more. But until then, thanks for following along on my  journey.

Adios,

Cassandra Cavezza