City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation Environmental Restoration Intern

Getting the opportunity to be the Environmental Restoration intern with the City of Bellingham Parks Volunteer Program was an enriching invaluable experience for me, both personally and professionally. Despite having to unfortunately leave the program sooner than I anticipated, due to issues with financial aid dispersal and their inequitable credit requirements, I still walked away with a plethora of achievements. And although this internship doesn’t have any direct connections to the urban planning profession, there are still multiple takeaways from this position that I strongly believe are transferable skills to any future planner. I was able to positively interact with multiple community members, local municipal organizations, and community-based programs throughout my time, all the while developing professional connections along the way. In fact this position opened up a lot of doors as I was able to meet different city staff members, some of whom planned exclusively for parks/greenspaces