As I sit here greeting visitors on this warm Saturday afternoon, I can’t believe I only have one last week here at the GIAC. At the same time though, my first day here feels like such a long time ago–I feel so comfortable and valued here that it’s hard to believe I’ve only been here for eight weeks, either.

This week definitely flew by the fastest! I worked the front desk Saturday and Sunday, and aside from accidentally locking my keys in my office and setting the alarm system off during a wedding brunch, I had a great time welcoming visitors and seeing what goes on during events. I also baked cookies on the dashboard of my car during the heat wave, and they turned out surprisingly well! On Monday our monarch egg hatched into the teeniest lil caterpillar–I couldn’t find it until the end of the day! We also had a program on birds again, and although I’ve helped facilitate that program ten times or so by now, I paid extra close attention to the lesson and the other activities because I will be leading that program on my own next Friday!

Then, Tuesday and Wednesday were my days off, so Monday night I drove up to the Akron area to visit some family, then spent all day Tuesday at Cedar Point! I hadn’t been in awhile, so it was definitely worth the quick trip up and the 5 am wake-up to drive back here in time for the Learning Session on Wednesday. I really enjoyed the peaceful moments to reflect on my summer and to hear about the journeys that my peers have experienced, and Doug’s insights on ambition in our personal and professional lives will stick with me for a long time. His ambition to have no regrets and his belief that you should not make decisions before you have the opportunity to do so are valuable pieces of wisdom as I head in to my final year of college and think about what’s after graduation. Sometimes I feel like I’m not ambitious because I don’t know what I want to do after I graduate, but I have to be ambitious if I want to earn the chance to have multiple options and opportunities in front of me.

We had a habitat program I got to help lead on Thursday, and our group took the longer to finish our activities and sit spots because the kids were so excited to share their reflections and observations, which always warms my heart. I also had time Thursday and Friday to keep working on my framework for the environmental justice program we’re planning. To help me with planning, I met with a former panelist during a past environmental justice event we hosted and I also talked to a volunteer from Columbus Audubon about her insights. I had enjoyable and productive conversations with these women, and it was helpful to hear feedback and support for what I’ve been working on. It’s been hard not to feel stressed out about this work sometimes because I feel like I need to have everything planned and spelled out before I leave–I’m not used to working without an explicit deadline, and I only have one more week to work on this. However, I hope to still be involved in this project even after my time here is done, plus I will still have some access to the GIAC this semester as I will be helping out as a part-time facility attendant.

I have so much going on in my last five days here–from helping out with five programs to moving out of my apartment and attending Wednesday’s board game fundraiser night at Kingmaker’s (Y’all should come! (: It’s from 5-8 pm, and you can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/game-for-good-grange-insurance-audubon-center-tickets-63581485936?aff=efbeventtix&fbclid=IwAR3pxW77Ve7Lh4-hIyiSHAsw_bbvCljT1fUUoyYHCKLgIybCEX9kxqnM3dc). I’m looking forward to making the most of the time I have left and creating a few last memories!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! (: