Coming to the end at Vicksburg

25 Jul Coming to the end at Vicksburg

I can honestly say that my internship has been far from the norm, but many great learning points have come from it. I have gained so much from this virtual opportunity and I cannot wait to give my summary of my experience as a biology assistant intern at the Vicksburg National Military park, so keep reading!

As I reminisce on the few weeks before my internship, I can recall all of the emotions I was feeling leading up to my start date. The excitement, fear, and pure curiosity of how this internship was going to turn out kept me up at night. When I finally received the notice that my summer plans were still in progress, it was a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. Now that I am at the end and preparing my end-of-internship presentation, I think about all of the progress I have made working on multiple projects for the park and how fast time flew by. I have completed a public brochure that simplifies information about the importance of arthropods and what they are. I have completed a collection protocol that could be beneficial for future interns and park biologists for the years to come. I have also worked towards various personal goals that will help me in in my academic and professional careers with the help of my awesome mentor, Chuck Beightol.

Through the Mosaics in Science Diversity Internship, I have found a new understanding of what it means to work in the National Park Service and what careers are potentially out there for me. This internship has helped me dive deeper into my own passions and allowed me to explore all of the options in the NPS that I was unaware of! I am so grateful to have received this opportunity and a special thanks to all of the amazing team to make this happen!