<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Blinkie 3(1).jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 183px; float: right; " />Au Sable interns embark on an exciting mission to teach kids about the environment....but, as clich&eacute; as it sounds, Au Sable teaches the interns probably more than the interns teach the kids. I know, I know &ndash; that&rsquo;s a terribly corny first paragraph...but hear me out!</p>
<p>
	As a biology major, teaching about plants and ponds should have been a piece of cake....haha-no. &ldquo;Photosynthesis...uh?...green stuff...magic...Energy...is that right?&rdquo; Sadly, this fundamental material had been lost over the years. Our training week was a great chance to re-learn some bio basics! And the best way to test to see if you solidly know something (and to keep it stuck in your brain) is to teach someone else about it! Being able to stand in front of grade-schoolers and teach about photosynthesis is a task, let me tell you, but it was incredibly rewarding to reestablish my knowledge of such Bio-Basics and then pass along that knowledge to groups of crazy-fun kids.</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Blinkie 4.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 167px; float: left; " />Next, let&rsquo;s talk about Michigan History &ndash; I&rsquo;m hardly a history buff. As such, Au Sable gave me the chance to learn about some rather important American history in a fun way (fun for both the interns and for the kids!). A big part of these lessons focus on how history is connected to the environment; the fur trade and logging were great livelihoods for the people, but both came at a high environmental cost. At the closing of Michigan History, we asked the kids how our actions can impact the environment; what choices can we make to make the world a better place for the future?</p>
<p align="center">
	<em>&ldquo;Recycle.&rdquo; &ldquo;Compost.&rdquo; &ldquo;Plant trees.&rdquo; &ldquo;Hunt responsibly.&rdquo; &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t litter.&rdquo; &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t waste water.&rdquo;</em></p>
<p>
	<em>&ldquo;Yes, those are all great answers&mdash;and if we all do our part, the world will be a better place. Thousands of kids come through this program each year! If every kid left here and recycled or composted, that would be a lot of people working together, right?&rdquo;</em> Right!<br />
	<br />
	These things are easy to do &ndash; especially at Au Sable where there were bins for every possible recyclable material known to man. However, I&rsquo;m home now and not at Au Sable. &nbsp;Thousands of kids can make a difference, but what is this blogging intern doing?</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Blinkie.jpg" style="width: 188px; height: 250px; float: right; " />Well, honestly, not much. But I felt really compelled by what we learned about and talked about and taught about...I was especially fired up about food waste and composting. I got home and made a little Food Scrap Graveyard in my backyard and all was going well for a month (until our devilish chihuahua-mutt discovered it and had sick poo-poos on the beige carpet...sooooo, right now composting is on hold until I can make the walls around the pile dog-proof).&nbsp; But, really, it&rsquo;s fun, easy to do and it cuts down curb-side, dump-bound garbage.</p>
<p>
	<em>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t waste water&rdquo;.</em> As we learned in pond study, usable freshwater on the planet is scant, to say the least &ndash; a mere drop in comparison to a 5-gallon bucket! Michigan has amazing lakes...the nearest non-puny lake to my home used to be one of the most polluted lakes in the world. It&rsquo;s gotten better &ndash; people boat on it now (swimming on the other hand, will probably leave you growing a third eye). It&rsquo;s easy to render water unusable...and it&rsquo;s probably not a good idea to squander this precious resource...however, I must confess; I take my time doing dishes, sometimes I set my laundry to &ldquo;extra wash&rdquo; and I like super-super-long, hot showers.</p>
<p>
	The shower-thing, though, that has seen improvement because my old roommate found a solution; Shower Song! Find a 5-ish minute song and shower...When the songs up, shower&rsquo;s up! It&rsquo;s a great way to time yourself and get pumped up to start the day &ndash; all while conserving water. Just sayin&rsquo;.</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Blinkie 2.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 166px; float: left; " />Lastly, Au Sable taught me how to talk in front of groups of people. Reading this blog post, you might see that sometimes I say silly, awkward, kind-of-unnecessary things. As such, public speaking makes me nervous and I often verbally dig myself into a hole. Starting the internship, I was terrified about talking in front of people and having to sound intelligent. Through daily experience, debriefing meetings...and even being filmed whilst teaching, I learned things <em>not</em> to say, things that are good to say, how to bring sidetracking questions back to the main point and how to get the attention of a dining hall full of 60 kids. This was probably the best thing I learned about...and it sure came in handy during some recent grad school interviews and calling up professors&hellip; I&rsquo;ll be starting my master&rsquo;s at Emporia State next month!</p>
<p>
	So, in nutshell &ndash; Being an intern at Au Sable re-taught me basics that I&rsquo;d long forgotten...it taught me to be more environmentally conscious and to try to practice what I preach...er....teach?...it taught me how to be a better, more confident speaker....and so, so much more!</p>
<p>
	<br />
	&nbsp;</p>
