A Life of Decisions

I was asked to write an internship testimony three summers later, but it was just as fun and easy to reflect on Bainbrdige Island Metro Parks and Rec Department (BIMPRD) three years later as it was the day that I had to leave the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to Ashley Miller who continued the Texas A&M Outdoor Adventures legacy on this PNW island!

Why was this internship an invaluable experience?

Positivity and The Outdoors! Henry Thoreau said “take a walk in the woods and come out taller than the trees,” and this is letter-perfect of what BIMPRD did to me and for me. I learned in college how to respect and be in awe of Mother Nature, but BIMPRD’s internship experience let me walk with her every day, as well as help a community explore ways to get to know her. Not only was I there dropping my jaw at the beauties of the Pacific Northwest day after day, I was able to do it with admirably positive people. I worked mainly with Lori Quick-Mejia and Helen Stone and when you do that you feel instantly welcomed and able to go to the office every morning with enthusiasm and pep. This is something I took advantage of at the time, not knowing how valuable and rewarding the work they were doing daily was and is to a community, as well as themselves. Only now that I am working for a corporation am I able to understand how truly lucky I was to share that experience with them and how brilliant they are to continue theirs.

I was a Marketing and Event Planning Intern who got to help plan and promote BIMPRD’s many events in a variety of ways. I felt I was given freedom and autonomy in this position, as well as structure and responsibility. I can’t honestly talk about my absolute favorite memory because it is sincerely impossible to claim just one. I was tasked with photographing the youth sailing camp, passing out flyers to local businesses, working weekly concerts with kids who showed me how to be joyful handing out popcorn, and roaming around a stunning island to make sure its people were coming to SummerFest. Outside of work, my positive people showed me what the PNW was made of by inviting me to go hiking alongside thriving rivers, sailing across Puget Sound, crabbing off the shores of Fay Bainbridge and picnicking in a coworkers backyard.

I was asked to say what I’m most proud of and as absorbed as it sounds, I’m most proud of myself. My decision to embark on the journey to move across the country for four months to a small little island that could potentially have little to offer turned out to be some of the most remarkable months of my life. While I’m proud of the decision I made to get me there, BIMPRD and Bainbridge, Positivity and The Outdoors, did the rest the moment I stepped off the ferry. I am grateful to myself for practicing a life of decisions that take me to extraordinary places, but I am awestruck by the individuals and flora who made that decision an unforgettable experience.