15 Aug Wrapping Up Summer 2015!

Is it really week 10? This summer has flashed before my eyes! Of course we couldn’t wrap up the ‘last week’ at OCLP without a big presentation to display and explain all of the work that we have completed this summer. And it wouldn’t be a DTP celebration without food and snacks! So we hosted a Teach-Back session accompanied with an Agricultural Buffet (thanks to Margie and the goods in her garden) on Thursday morning. The presentation had a great turn out! Our audience provided us with some constructive feedback and recommendations for our projects. They applauded us for completing so much work in a limited time and seemed to have been very impressed with our blogging this summer! I want to thank everyone for taking the time to keep up with our program and celebrating with us. It was a pleasure! After our teach-back, the Olmsted Center Staff took us all out to lunch and showered us with NPS gear, cards, and cool gifts from Paris! I am obsessed with my Le Corbusier calendar, you guys know me so well. Thank you all for welcoming me back this summer with open arms and treating me like family. Once an Olmsted member, always an Olmsted member! As this Friday comes to an end, I started to reflect about my time here at the OCLP.  I have gained so much knowledge this summer in regards to preservation in Landscape Architecture, school, careers, life, and I have met some great people along the way. Four amazing people specifically are the other DTP interns. Shanasia, Kristi, Ericka, and I have gotten really close this summer. We shared so many days of laughter, inside-jokes, and crazy stories—it’s never a dull moment with these girls, which topped off my internship experience! What I gained the most from this position, was being able to work on REAL WORLD projects. As an architecture student, I am always assigned a ‘pretend client’ and designing something that is most likely never going to be built, but here at the OCLP, we are working on projects that aim to protect and preserve REAL historical landscapes. Thus, it is great to know that my input will be making a positive impact in the world some day!

One project in particular that I have worked on (here at OCLP, 2 summers ago) that is currently coming to life is the Reimagining Peddock’s Island project. After a recent trip to the Island, Margie and Ericka have informed me that the allée of trees that I have recommended to be planted along the Historic Parade Ground for shading purposes is now being implemented. Immediately, I got so excited to hear the news and rushed to see the photos that they have taken on the Island. Now, every time I look at them, a great feeling comes over me. Some people may only see them as trees and not a big deal but I AM SO PROUD OF MY TREES! (they’re like the children I don’t have). I can’t wait to see what other projects flourish into existence in the near future. To wrap up, everyone’s timeline here at the OCLP is taking a different route, Ericka will be here for another 10 weeks to finalize her BOHA project, Kristi has 1 more week, Shanaisa’s last day is today, and I just recently got offered the opportunity to extend my internship throughout the school year for a part-time position, with the intention of helping me acquire more hours towards licensing. I am so excited and feel very blessed to have so many positive things come my way! Thanks Bob, Margie, Mark, Jennifer, and Rodrigo for making this happen. This opportunity means a lot to me because it is really hard to find a group of people who are interested, willing, and able to help me during the process of obtaining my architecture license. I also want to thank Alex, Chris, Tim, Jeff, and Eliot for teaching me so much this summer and being an awesome group of people. I look forward to what this extension has in store for me. I guess this means that this will not be my last blog post 🙂 Until Next Time…