My STEP Signature Project was a summer internship as a Park Ranger for Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Peninsula, Ohio. My main duties were in the Community Engagement Division. I led many youth programs with activities such as presentations, educational hikes, bike rides, fishing, games, songs, crafts, and more. I also assisted with visitor services by providing information at the visitor center, at pop-up booths throughout the park, and informally as I was roving the trails.
As a Landscape Architecture major, I am hoping to someday design parks and outdoor spaces for people. In my studies so far, all our projects are hypothetical, our designs do not get built, and there is no community engaging with our designs. This has always been a bit frustrating for me, as the main reason I am interested in Landscape Architecture is the people who will get to enjoy the spaces I design. Though my internship was not at a place I came up with, getting to share my passion for it with others was encouraging and inspiring. I have been an avid visitor of Cuyahoga Valley since I was a little kid, so it was exciting for me to meet and talk with people who might be only visiting for a day, or who are local to the area and have been coming for ages. I got to experience some children’s first experiences with nature, reminding me why I came to love it so much.
I am an extrovert, and this summer fueled that side of me. I gave many safety talks and educational presentations, performed in multiple children’s plays, and played more games than I could count. But one element of this that challenged me a great deal was developing my own programs. For each of these events, we had a specific program outline with key interpretive points, tools for learning, and demonstrative activities. While I have many times followed a script or lesson plan, I have never had to write my own before. We had extensive training on what elements make a good program and aligned with National Park Service themes, but I went through many rounds of edits before the hiking and history program I wrote was ready for the public. This process made me better at receiving and giving feedback and asking good questions.
Another part of my internship I felt transformed by was the number of check-ins we had with our team. When I first received this position, I felt underqualified. Everyone else in my same role had a year of experience at the park, and I had none. My duties also included leading a group of volunteers, and occasionally I was our team lead for the day and was in charge of whole events. This seemed daunting to me, but through the help of my manager, and co-workers, I received lots of constructive feedback and asked lots of questions. We started and ended each day with a briefing meeting, which prepared me and ensured I accomplished all I had set out to do on any given day. Since our schedule varied so much, and I have never been an organized person, this was essential to keep me on track. In addition to our briefings, I also had individual quarterly check-ins with my manager, who made sure I had all the opportunities I needed for personal and professional development. This made me feel like a valuable employee and that my voice was heard. I hope to do this kind of evaluation in other jobs I might hold in the future.
Besides learning from my coworkers, I made connections daily with the visitors I interacted with. Sometimes they were older than me and had wonderful stories to share about their experiences adventuring outdoors. But most of the time, I led youth summer camp groups and hosted events at community centers in Cleveland and Akron. The majority of our programs were attended by families and children who have little access to the outdoors in their neighborhood. We would bus in groups from the cities, or come bring elements of the park to them. One group that especially moved me was called Project RISE, which served people experiencing homelessness in Akron. Most groups only came once or twice, but these families were always so excited to come to the park. I saw the same people many times throughout the summer and got to know many of them. A lot of the kids in this group were really little or had difficulty communicating, but it was amazing to see them light up from just playing volleyball or frisbee. We grew close and learned from each other though we did not formally talk about the park.
This experience opened my eyes to the wide variety of backgrounds and motivations for people exploring the outdoors. As an aspiring Landscape Architect, I am always curious about the purpose behind a place, and it was encouraging to see that people can make a purpose out of anything. From exercise to walking their dog, to environmental education, or exploring history, there is something for everyone to enjoy outside. I am still discerning what my future might hold. This internship stuck my foot in the door for a career with the National Park Service, but I am unsure whether I would want to stick with the behind-the-scenes design work of a Landscape Architect, or let my extrovertedness shine through as a Park Ranger. Either way I go, I will have the experience I gained this past summer to inform my career. I am excited to share that this upcoming spring I am doing another internship with a Landscape Architecture firm in Columbus. This co-op semester would not have been attainable for me if not for the experience I gained at Cuyahoga Valley, so I am thankful for this STEP Signature Project.
