10 Jun Vamos a la playa, a mi me gusta baila…

I’m Amy Carrillo. I am a junior at Fordham University. I am currently majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Biology. I grew up in Trumbull, Connecticut, and now live in Queens, New York. For as long as I’ve lived near the Long Island Sound, I had never heard of Fire Island until applying for this internship.

As I continue researching the island, the more interesting it has become. For instance, who knew that Fire Island is home to one of only two maritime forests in the country! I have also become interested in the various types of animals and plants that have made a home here. It’s exciting to be given an opportunity to start an internship that will allow me to learn more about coastal ecosystems. I’m also excited to be part of a program that is doing more for the Hispanic community. That is a major reason why I applied to LHIP. Recently, it has become known that many minority communities don’t visit national parks. I am glad to be part of a program that is trying to solve this current dilemma. For instance, at Fire Island they are trying to reach out to Hispanic communities and raise awareness of national parks. This can be key towards building environmental justice in communities, getting kids to be more respectful towards the environment, and building a nation-wide community of environmentally-positive people. Even though I’m very excited about this internship, I am also a little nervous. There is a lot of information I’m going to need to absorb and remember.  I hope it will be easy for me to remember, and something I can apply my previous experiences and past curriculum to. Overall, I’m very excited to start this internship and where it will take me!