As I reflect on the last 6 months, I recognize the many ways that I have grown professionally. In dealing with a variety of seed vendors and other BLM employees, I have been able to sharpen my professional workplace skills, as well as my customer service skills. Personally, I have been able to get a better understanding of what it looks like to commit yourself full time to BLM projects that aren’t completed in just a few short days, or even weeks. It has been made clear that many projects take many months and years of hard work and commitment before being completed, and that doesn’t include the preparatory time before getting started. It takes a lot of passion and hard work to turn visions into reality. That’s something I will remember for years to come.

This internship has also taught me that hard work pays off. There were a variety of projects that I was assigned, some harder than others. A number of those projects took many weeks to complete. Regardless of how much time it took though, every day of hard work applied to that project was a day well spent and brought me one day closer to completion. It was unfortunate how quickly time passed when working hard. I wish I still had some more time to enjoy this experience.

Another factor that really made me enjoy this experience was the ability to sharpen my computer skills. I spent quite a bit of time on the computer and was able to learn many new things on Excel and Word. Having the capability to get better at utilizing those skills and learning new ones was a really good thing for me.

I am grateful for this experience and will always appreciate my mentor and the things that he taught me. I am also appreciative of the other individuals that I was able to work with and get to know. They were valuable in assisting me when I had questions and providing insight when things were clear as mud. This was a great experience and a great networking tool. I am confident that the addition to my resume will be a benefit in more than one way when applying for jobs in the future. I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors. Work hard, have fun, and enjoy your summer.

Boise Regional Seed Warehouse

Bureau of Land Management

Boise, Idaho