After determining that I was interested in spending my summer between junior and senior year in San Francisco, the job search began. It was a little frustrating, a little overwhelming, but in the end a unique and memorable experience. With some help from a family friend, I was put in touch with Julie Cummins, the Outings Coordinator at an environmental organization called Greenbelt Alliance. We spoke multiple times on the phone, and agreed that Greenbelt Alliance would be a suitable fit for what I was hoping to achieve from a summer internship. As an Environmental Studies major, with a focus in social science, I was eager to be involved with outdoor programs for children with an emphasis on environmental education. After discussing with Julie what I hoped to gain from my summer internship and learning about Greenbelt as a non-profit organization, Julie and I began to form a friendship and before I knew it I was on a plane to California.

Arriving in a new city for the first time is always somewhat intimidating and scary, but it is exciting and energetic. Julie welcomed me with a hug and from there we began a working partnership that taught me a lot and was very rewarding. In the larger picture, Greenbelt Alliance works hard to preserve the open space around the Bay Area, and is respected as the Bay Area's leading land conservation, non-profit organization. With about 15 people in this small, relaxed, casual office environment, individuals work hard and depend a great deal on membership support. Everyone in this office cares about the environment, sharing a contagious energy used to protect the open space around the Bay Area from being overdeveloped.

I spent my time at Greenbelt Alliance working in the education department, focusing on the Youth Outings and Greenbelt Outings. Greenbelt Outings, offered to the general public, include a variety of hiking, walking, biking and farm tour trips around the Bay area. It is a great way for the public to get outdoors and be reminded of the beauty that lies in their backyard. I spent every Monday checking the reservation messages to record who was interested in which Greenbelt trips, and whether or not carpools were needed. It was my responsibility to talk with the outing leaders about the number of participants welcomed to join their trip, and to get from the leader directions to where the participants should meet on the day of the outing.

A large portion of my time at Greenbelt Alliance was involved with the Youth Outings. Hiking trips, biking trips, farm tours, star gazing and marsh trips are just a few of the outings offered to groups from the Bay Area. The participants were already involved with a youth group and I spent a great deal of time talking with youth group leaders, working together to plan outings. The goal was to allow children from seven to twelve years of age the opportunity to get into nature and experience the wilderness in a new way. Many of these children are from low-income families and hardly have the chance to get out of the city. The expressions on some of their faces and the comments made during the trips were priceless, and it felt extremely rewarding to make an impact on the lives of so many children.

While at Greenbelt Alliance, I participated in a few Youth Outings including a canoe trip in Palo Alto, a salt marsh expedition, a mountain bike ride in Marin county and a hike on Angel Island, which is an island in the middle of the Bay. All of these were unique trips and each a different learning experience, introducing me to new knowledge and leadership skills. After collecting a variety of curricula from many books, I spent a large portion of my time with Greenbelt Alliance creating an activities book for future Youth Outing leaders. This book contains sections with on-trail activities and games, plus many activities that increase individuals' usage of all their senses. One game consists of all participants closing their eyes and counting how many different sounds they can hear in a short period. Hopefully these activities will be helpful on Youth Outings, and allow children to enjoy their outdoor experience and see their surroundings in a new way.

During the time I spent with Greenbelt Alliance, we won a fight that had been taking place for many years and ultimately protected about 15,000 acres of open land from development. Although I did not work directly on this issue, I felt very proud of the achievement and excited to be involved in an organization that works for an issue I support. The day after the vote was made to protect this large area of land, we all cheered for Tom (the man directly involved with the fight) as he walked into the office. A warm feeling was shared between everyone in the office, a reminder of what we were all working hard for each day. I learned a lot this summer, including the difference between doing something 'in' nature and doing something 'for' nature.

One day after work a friend asked me if I felt like I was making a difference. I was proud and overwhelmingly satisfied to be able to answer "yes", and to say that although I was just one piece of a jigsaw puzzle, I was needed to make the puzzle complete. Environmental education is important in educating youth about their surroundings, especially because they are the ones for whom we are preserving the land. Environmental education must start at a young age in order to make a difference in the future. It felt great to spend my summer organizing trips, involving children in their surroundings and introducing them to a new way of seeing their backyard.