Hi, everyone, this is my blast blog. As I am writing this, I am thinking about how hard it is going to be to put everything I did and experienced into words, but I am going to give it my best shot. I have had so many great things happen through this internship but a few of my main projects and highlights were the Community Garden, the 4-H Camps, the Low Impact Exercise Class, the Summer Library Program, my Community Service and so much more. One of my main projects was the Community Garden and I know I touched on it in previous blogs so I will not go as into depth. I worked in the Community Garden every day if not in Silverton, then in Memphis. I have learned what I believe to be a very valuable lesson not only in how to plant and grow a garden, but that hard work pays off. I also had challenges too like some of the plants dying or not producing. Another project was the Summer Library Program where I helped plan, set up, and lead the program which consists of reading two to three books then making a snack, craft, and playing a game that coordinates with the books. My challenges and success went hand in hand with this project. I have always been able to better communicate with my younger peers which made this project easier for me, but I also want to be able to set a strong role model example for them, so I worked on how to present myself in a way that set an example for all. One of my hardest projects was the Low Impact Exercise Class even though it does not sound like a challenge, but it was not the project itself but the people I was with. This project is focused on the elderly in my community who are the people I look up to most and the ones who encourage me and expect the best. I have been around these people my whole life and was so worried that I was going to disappoint them in some way. Which lead me to focus on not disappointing them instead of being myself which is all they wanted me to do. After I can to this realization, I could focus more on what I was doing and being myself, which helped me in my other projects knowing that all that was expected from me was to be myself. The next project was 4-H Camps which I have always enjoyed attending so it was a wonderful experience for me to be on the opposite end of things. I got to learn about all the hard work that the leaders put into these camps and how much work it takes to put the camps on. Not only do I understand the difficulty I can now appreciate it differently than before. I feel like I got a lot out of these camps especially being a group leader. While I was a group leader, I got to see how much fun and the experience the kids were having. The last thing I want to touch on is my community service although I have written a blog dedicated to it, it is one of the most impactful things, I have received from this internship. My community service projects were not different than what I have done in the past I just saw it from a different perspective. I have learned so much about my community through the eyes of Ogallala Commons. For example, I have found so many Commonwealth Assets in my community that I never thought we had. My community service not only benefited my community it also benefited me in a way I cannot describe. This was one of the most amazing opportunities I have had, and I would not take back any of it. Not only did I grow as I person I think that this has helped my community grow towards something new and exciting. I did not formally set goals for myself I just had a thought of what I wanted to achieve. I wanted to complete my internship to the best of my ability, I wanted to grow more confident in myself, and help my community to do better. I not only think that I achieved these on a personal level I think that these goals made others realize the good that comes from programs like Ogallala Commons. I can tell a difference in my self-confidence already just by the way I presented my harvest ceremony this week. Not only have I noticed this change so have others in my community and I plan to better the skills I learned and improving my confidence further rather it being through future Ogallala Commons opportunities or just everyday life.
