Wishing Summer Was Longer!!

Like every other summer I am not ready for this one to end, but this time for a reason other than I’m not ready to go back to school.  This summer the reason I am not ready for summer to end is because I am not ready to be done with my internship.  I still feel like I haven’t learned all that I can learn yet.  There are crops that we have been watching from the time we have planted them to see how the diseases and environmental factors have affected them and I want to finish watching them grow until they are harvested.  I have recommended different things to growers when they are having problems with their crops or trees or flowers and I want to see the outcome of my recommendations.  There are just so many things that have been started that I am not going to be able to see the end result and I really want to be able too.  I guess it is a good thing I live in the county I am interning in because I will be making frequent stops in to see how the different projects are coming along.

The past couple of weeks have been no different from the rest of my summer, busy, busy, busy.  Last week was full of 4-H camp and being an adult counselor for one of our cabins, which I must say at first I was a little hesitant because I had never been to 4-H camp before let alone be an adult counselor there.  But I must say that was one of the best weeks of my internship, I do believe.  Now that I am home and can reflect back on the week I realize how much I grew during that week and stepped out of my comfort zone.  In my cabin I had three girls (which were triplets) that had special needs and their older sister; they really seemed to take to me so I took it upon myself to make sure those girls had a great experience at camp.  They started off being pretty homesick and at some points my patience was being tested but I finally got their minds off of home and on to the fun of camp.  Everyone I talked too at camp said that those girls are going to remember me for the rest of their lives and that I really seemed to make an impact on them, but now that I am reflecting back on last week I have realized how much those four girls have impacted my life and have given me a different outlook on life. This is one of the many, many reasons that I feel Extension is the career for me!

This week on the other hand was back to being an Ag intern. As soon as I got back to the office on Monday we had farm visits to make and meetings to attend. I have finished my publication on lawn care (my summer project) this week except for a few finishing touches once my reviewers get done reviewing!  Today has started off to be just as busy with more farm visits and trying to get all the equipment that our office has back into the sheds and barns, out of the weather, now that the rush of getting things in the ground is over with.  Tonight is filled with some more meetings and then tomorrow I look forward to seeing you all at the Intern Roundup!! Safe Travels to everyone!