The hardest thing in the world to face is the unknown — especially alone. That is the challenge I faced this summer when I headed north to Pennsylvania to spend the summer working at an internship with Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. Anything could have happened; the whole summer could have gone terribly wrong, taking such a big step out of my realm of experience and comfort zone, but it didn’t. In fact, it turned out to be possibly the best summer of my entire life. 

Through the internship, I worked as an environmental educator. About 80% of my time was spent as a camp counselor, teaching outdoor day camps for 6- to 10-year-olds each week. This in and of itself was a learning experience. I had never really been in charge of kids before, much less worked with them for any extended period of time. However, as the summer progressed, my skills improved as well and I found the experience to be incredibly fulfilling. It was inspiring to see the kids learning day by day and developing a new sense of appreciation for nature — under my leadership, no less! 

To a lesser extent, I also got to work with rehabilitated birds of prey throughout the summer, through Shaver’s Creek’s raptor center. This involved a good amount of dirty work such as cleaning cages and feeding, but with this also came the opportunity to give weekly bird of prey shows at the center and go on traveling road shows to different campgrounds and events. Handling the birds was always my favorite part; each one had a totally different personality and feel. My proudest moment during my last week of the internship was getting to hold the Golden Eagle, the largest bird at the center!

About 3/4 of the way through my internship, I took a week off to fly out to AZ for the 2011 Udall Orientation, as part of the Udall Scholarship that I won this year. This, too, was an incredible experience unlike anything I have ever done before. Along with the 79 other scholars, I had the opportunity to meet with the Udall family and many influential environmental and tribal leaders involved in the government. We attended workshops, discussions, and gave presentations throughout the week. It was a lot to take in, in only a 3-day period, but the orientation really re-energized me and gave me new inspiration for my environmental efforts during my last year at Eckerd. 

Speaking of which… holy cow! It’s my last year at Eckerd! Needless to say, this summer has been a totally transformative experience. At the beginning of this post I said that the hardest thing in the world to face alone is the unknown. But I think it is also necessary to growing up and becoming the person who you want to become. And in the end, I have found, you’re often not as alone as you think; you are loved by more people than you know. 

So as I take on this last year of school, I will try to remember everything I learned this summer:

Be yourself. Bring your own happiness wherever you go. Keep smiling. Act confident even when you don’t feel confident. Try new things. Go with the flow. Embrace your friends. Push your limits. Live in the moment. Do what you love.