One of the greatest opportunities that comes with going to college is having your summers free to explore your interests through internships and other experiences. Last summer I had a great internship experience. I worked as a research assistant during the school year for one of my professors and she recommended I apply for an intern position with the Bureau of Land Management. She knew the position would require some work in ArcGIS, which is a computer program I had been using to conduct research with her. I wanted to develop my skills in the program so I followed her suggestion and applied for the position.
I was lucky enough to be hired as a student intern at the BLM Utah State Office working directly with a USU alumnus who also graduated from the Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning department. I spent the summer working on Visual Resource Management projects throughout the state of Utah. The BLM’s Visual Resource Management program is tasked with ensuring that the scenic values of its public lands are considered before allowing uses that may have negative visual impacts. This requires conducting inventory and analysis of scenic quality across all BLM managed lands and preparing data and maps that can be used in the planning and management of those lands. It was a great chance to see beautiful places all across the state of Utah and continue developing and using skills I had learned at school to turn our analysis into usable information for the BLM. I was exposed to an area of my profession that I knew little about before and worked directly with many amazing professionals!
Summer may seem like a long way away right now, but it’s never too early to start making plans and looking for things you can do to expand your education and have some great experiences outside of school. Talk to your professors and see what recommendations they can make for internships or experiences that relate to your interests. Look for the opportunities that are out there to develop yourself professionally, and don’t be afraid to try something new! Remember, summer comes and goes quickly, so take advantage of the free summers you have during college.
-- Alan Perry, Ag Ambassador
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