jbarr251
Registered: January 2012
City/Town/Province: Vancouver
Posts: 1
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In the summer of 2011 I had the opportunity to be an intern at The City of Vancouver’s Water Resource Education Center “WREC”. I decided to conduct this project because of my future interest in studying environmental science. During my time there I met many new people who gave me insight on careers in the environmental field. I also learned about the history and importance of environmental education. Throughout my internship I worked with a career coach who specializes in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers. The experiences I had, and people I met during my internship helped me develop some of my personal and professional goals for the future.
I was first introduced to the internship opportunity by the clerk in the FVHS Career Center, Mrs. Monek. I have had the pleasure of being an assistant in the Career Center for two years, where I have developed friendships with many of the clerks and counselors. I was given the opportunity to be an intern because of my future plans to study environmental science. I was really interested in exploring careers and getting experience in the environmental field, so I immediately applied.
Before I could begin my internship, I had to go through the application and interview process. I had never actually applied for a job before, so this was a completely new experience for me. After a little help in the career center, I had created my first resume. My first job interview was in a few days, and I hoped I wouldn’t make a complete fool of myself. I pictured the interview in my head, and ran over the questions I expected to be asked. I was terrified I would stumble on a question and lose my internship opportunity. Needless to say, the day of my interview, I was extremely nervous. To my surprise my interview went wonderfully. Before I knew it, my future supervisors were shaking my hand, and welcoming me in.
After I was accepted into the program, I was introduced to my advisor and STEM Career coach, Manlio. My career coach and I then began focusing on my future career ambitions. We developed my short-term goals for the program, and my long-term educational and professional aspirations. This was a significant part of the program, which I really enjoyed. I believe that goal setting is an important aspect of life, and without personal feats of victory, life begins to seem increasingly mundane.
I began my 90 hour project a few days after the 4th of July, unaware of the things I would learn about in my short time there. My days would usually begin with a “fire walk”, where I would walk on the banks of the Columbia River, looking for remnants of fires to extinguish. I would rarely find the fires that threatened the Wetlands I know called “my workplace”. Instead I would collect vast amounts of trash that had accumulated as if overnight. Doing this everyday, I really became aware of the negative impact humans have on the environment. I was stunned by how much garbage would wash up just overnight. I learned a lot about the area I worked in. I learned about the native and invasive species in the wetlands, I also learned about the destruction of the Portland wetlands to build PDX Airport. The negative things I learned inspired me in a positive way, they made me want to do what I could to help the environment.
Working with people who majored in things like marine biology and geology, gave me a brief look of the kinds of jobs in the environmental field. I realized that environmental education is a necessity for a sustainable future. I spent time with children at the Science in the Park Program, where I ran a Recycle Relay Race. I told then how important recycling is and how it saved precious resources. Assisting them in understanding how they were helping the ecology of the world was my favorite part of the internship.
Before I began my project, I was introduced to new experiences. I made my first resume, had my first job interview, and set goals for my future. During my time at the WREC, I saw first hand the pollution caused by human activity. I learned about the ecology of the wetlands and the importance of environmental education. I left the internship with a sense of accomplishment and urging sentiment to fix what others had polluted. I believe I personally gained substantially from the short program. It was definitely a defining moment in my life.
Since my internship I have returned to The Vancouver Water Resource and education center to volunteer several times. In this New Year alone I already have devoted over 15 hours to helping the educators at the center, any way I can. I recently helped develop and plan new fun activities for children during the Second Saturday program. I have also transplanted numerous shrubs to give more sunlight to others. Along with the transplants, I planted new native Red Osier Dogwood whips in the wetlands to help prevent erosion and illegal dumping. I enjoy helping to protect this small area of wetlands. The vast amounts of life concealed in this area make it a paradise. I hope to continue to help people learn about the importance of such diverse places like the wetlands. During my projects I learned about the environment and myself. I became sure of what my goals and plans are for the future; overall, I believe my experiences at the Water Resource Center have made me a better person.
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