On May 27th, I will be heading to the Tallahassee airport to take my seat on the plane that will start me off on my journey to Denver, Colorado. From there, I’ll be taken to Estes Park for orientation and then will start my service on the Shadow Mountain conservation crew in the Arapaho National Forest. I will be living in a cabin with this 6-man crew and working alongside them for nearly 3 months. The work we will be doing is the most varied of the 5 separate crews, with our duties ranging from general trail maintenance to backcountry patrols to more specific projects, such as stream crossing repair, turnpike construction, and trail kiosk installation. All of this we will be doing under the Rocky Mountain Conservancy as part of the AmeriCorps.

I am beyond excited about this experience! For 2 years now, I have been a part of and heavily involved in FSU’s Environmental Service Program. Each Saturday, the organization goes out for 2-3 hours to work on an environmental conservation project, whether it’s dip-netting in their adopted ephemeral wetland, weeding invasive plant species, planting trees, helping at St. Francis Wildlife, or any other environmental improvement project. This program has been one of the absolute best parts of my time at FSU, and I always look forward to the Saturdays I get to spend outside and helping the environment, so the prospect of going out and working in a national park, doing conservation work nearly every day, and being around people who love the environment and this kind of work as much as I do is so exciting! I can hardly wait to the be out there! Plus, it will be quite the adventure, as I have never traveled much and have never been further than North Carolina/Tennessee (I live in south Georgia). Figuring out how to navigate the whole airport and commercial airline thing is a bit daunting, but I know it will be totally worth it once I’m out there. If my alternative spring break trip is any indicator, I imagine the months will fly by.

I’m also excited for this particular experience because it can help me to figure out whether this field of work is something that I would like to pursue after college. Currently, I am working for Sustainable Campus of FSU, and though I greatly enjoy the work I do, I do not foresee it being something that I would enjoy doing as a career. By serving on this conservation crew, I will not only learn a great deal of different skills I can carry with me, but it will also help me to decide if the conservation track is right for me. Additionally, the AmeriCorps experience will hopefully help me in getting into and being successful in the Peace Corps, a goal I have in mind for post-graduation. All in all, there’s a lot to look forward to!

If you’re interested in learning more about the Conservation Corps or want to follow the adventure, you can check out the Rocky Mountain Conservancy’s blog!