Goodbyes, Thanks, and Praise!

This has been fun. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I am grateful looking back at all the people, plants, and places I’ve had the privilege of experiencing. Seasonal work is pretty cool, too. A lot of my time here in Boise has been spent talking with Cara, our mentor, Joe, and many other people from the office about where we want to go or where we’ve been as far as jobs and careers are concerned. I think there’s an unfortunate expectation and pressure for young adults to have an idea of what they want to be and how they plan on getting there as fast as possible. From a financial standpoint I understand this mentality if you are in debt or want to avoid debt in the future or even if you just need to know that you can afford to live and maybe one day afford to support a family. Personally, I am so incredibly grateful for the privilege to not need to stress about whether I have something lined up next. But that’s a hard thing to be okay with. I often have to make a concerted effort to remind myself that it’s okay to not know what I’m doing or even where I’m going. It’s okay to not know if I want to go back to Grad School. It’s okay to not know if I want to embark upon another internship. It’s even okay if I don’t want to go into land conservation and anything remotely involved in Biology as a field of work! Who knows maybe I’ll go into culinary arts or physical therapy or criminal justice.

All of this is to say that as much as I’ve truly appreciated learning to ID plant species, remembering the plant codes, and so many other skills for land management/conservation work, above everything else, I have appreciated being a part of something genuine. This wasn’t some cookie-cutter, superficial, resume-boosting couple of months. This was hard work. Physically and mentally, we invested ourselves into this experience just as others, both people and plants, invested in us. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the things I’m most excited about from this internship is being able to return to the allotments we worked on in ten, twenty, even sixty years and hopefully see the actual efforts in the land. Who knows, maybe I’ll just throw on some gloves and start planting sagebrush plugs when I’m ninety.

Anyhow, much respect to all of you fellow interns for your tales and toils and I look forward to seeing where we all go from here! A big thanks to the Four Rivers Field Office staff and our mentor, Joe, for your friendships and knowledge. And many thanks to the CBG staff that are really the source for the sincerity and meaning that this program holds for me.

All my best,

Zander,

Four Rivers Field Office, Boise, ID