By: Amelia Basile, Former Education Intern
For the past six months, I have had the amazing opportunity to work with the NJSOC as a high school intern. Since I was little, I have always been fascinated with the natural world and my educational journey through the Environmental Science Academy at Jefferson Township High School has given me the wonderful experience to do a 120 hour internship that focuses on what I love. To me, this internship was not just an item on my senior year checklist but a valuable time in my life that I was able to learn about myself, the new generation of children, and the wonderful people in this field.
Throughout my time with the NJSOC, I have been doing a wide range of tasks. I have been able to use my past skills as well as gain new ones. I have always been a creative individual and I was able to use that through photography, videography, and small projects for classroom lessons. I used my videography skills to create my capstone project, a video for kids to understand how our meal times works. This will allow staff and children to have more time to learn and have fun than preparing to serve meals. It should also allow for smoother, quicker, meals time which benefits everyone!
Not only did I practice and apply the skills I already have but I learned new ones I can use for my future career. For example, preparing blog posts has given me lots of experience with writing, which I plan to use for a potential job in environmental journalism. Not only that, I was introduced to a totally new skill that I never thought I would enjoy…teaching! As the NJSOC started to get near its busiest season of the year, I had been taking care of our ambassador animals and learned a lot about them. In the Nature Center we have a corn snake, a box turtle, and a painted turtle. I loved them and I was introduced to the idea of teaching part of a class about reptiles and their importance. While I might not pursue teaching as a career, the experience of showing children the beauty of the world through my eyes has opened many more paths for me in my career.
This experience has opened my eyes to a career in education, expanded skills that I enjoy, and most importantly, see the difference that schools like the NJSOC are making on our youth. Because of these factors (as well as the amazing and welcoming NJSOC staff), I have decided to continue my internship for as long as I can! Through my first hand experience and detailed eye of my camera, I can strongly say that the NJSOC is an extremely important organization for our youth and for the survival of our planet. I have attached some of my favorite pictures taken by me that I believe captures the difference, excitement, and change the NJSOC can make.
