My CLM internship with Big Thicket is finished in a week, and I leave Texas better able to deal with all kinds of new extremes: extreme humidity, extreme thunderstorms, extreme heat, and extremely sharp palmetto leaves. I experienced so many things during my work and time off, both good and bad: I felt the pain of fire ant attacks, had my car invaded by crazy ants, was bitten by mosquitos the size of a quarter, chased black widows and centipedes out of my bed, stepped on a copperhead, watched a rattlesnake eat a frog, spent more days than I want to think about up to my waist in swamp muck, watched the sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico, lived in the hometown of George Jones, ate something called a Super Monster Burrito, hammocked in the Thicket, stood on the highest point in Texas, ate phenomenal barbeque, went to an Astros game, and worked in a national park. While not always comfortable, working at Big Thicket certainly gave me the adventure I was asking for and helped me improve my work skills. I leave Texas with no regrets and hope to take what I’ve learned to the next stage of my career!