Hi guys! My name is Melanie and I’m from north Georgia. I’ve never written a blog before, but I’m pretty excited to attempt to share all of my experiences throughout this internship with anyone who is interested! I usually journal pretty often, so sorry if any emotional toll seems to be portrayed in these 🙂

It is only the second week of my internship in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as a Seeds of Success East intern. This week is currently training week, which is really awesome because we have all of the interns from up north – The New England Wildflower Society (NEWFS) and Greenbelt Native Plant Conservancy (GNPC) – at our botanical garden here in NC! I have to say, everything has been really great so far. All of the interns that I’ve met have been amazing, and I’m already learning so much.

Since we haven’t had our first collection trip yet, I wanted to write a little about my transition from college student to intern. I graduated in May ’16 with a biology degree from a little university in north Georgia. It’s a weird feeling – leaving everything you’ve known for 16+ years and starting something completely new. I was nervous and excited. And nervous. And excited, etc. I moved up here to North Carolina by myself, knowing no one besides Jake (another intern) – barely. As you can imagine, moving away from your college and friends is a hard thing to do! I miss my college town so much, but I miss the mountains the most. I was in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains, at the start of the Appalachian Trail. Now, here I am, in flat Orange county. It has definitely been an adjustment – getting up every morning for “work”, having long days, and being in a completely new place with all new people. But at the same time it is so insanely fun. I’m slowly but surely finding my way around, making friends, and learning a lot. You can’t let really great experiences pass you up just because they take you out of your comfort zone!

Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is –  I’m drowning in the plants now. And it can be a little overwhelming… but I love it. Our species list is pretty large, and I feel as though I need to learn all of them right now. But everyone is assuring me that it will all come in time the more we make it into the field.

This week was so fun meeting everyone. I plan to post as much as possible to document this internship, so stay tuned!

(Also – my phone apparently takes outstanding pictures. According to the website, all of my pictures are too big to upload. This could be a problem!)

Penstemon digitalis at Mason Farm Biological Reserve