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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Casey 4.jpg" style="width: 234px; height: 187px; float: right;" />I have been affiliated with Au Sable for several years now.&nbsp; My first Au Sable experience came as a research student during the summer of 2013.&nbsp; During this time I was fortunate to work as a member of the Boardman River research team.&nbsp; Growing up near Traverse City and being an avid fisherman, I was well acquainted with this stream and I thought I knew most of what there was to know about the quality of it&rsquo;s water, the debate surrounding the removal of its dams, and particularly the location of many of its trout. But through my research that summer something new was revealed to me.&nbsp;&nbsp; Questions that I hadn&rsquo;t thought to ask before became obvious.&nbsp; In all my time growing up around the Boardman, I felt as though the Boardman and I were just being introduced.</p>
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	Now as I return to Au Sable as an environmental education intern, I feel like something very similar is happening again.&nbsp; I am no stranger to children.&nbsp; In the past I have enjoyed working with students in settings that ranged in scope from Sunday school to youth mentoring programs. Growing up with a parent as a teacher I thought I knew what I was getting into.&nbsp; However, now as we enter of 5<sup>th</sup> week of the internship, I can honestly say I have been challenged in ways I never thought.</p>
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	Some of it is obvious stuff that I guess I didn&rsquo;t expect to be as challenging as it has turned out to be.&nbsp; For example; what is with the mysterious chemistry that exists between boys and girls?&nbsp; Why do some groups seem to disassociate while others can seem all too interested?&nbsp; Even more, it seems that just as I figure out how to overcome these obstacles to teaching, it is time for the students to leave!</p>
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	Less obvious to anticipate are the differences between individuals and the effects that one or two people can have on the group as a whole.&nbsp; Learning to read student body language and interpret behavioral queues has also been a difficult process.&nbsp; At times I can feel that the group is disengaging from a particular lesson only to find out later during my assessment checks that they remembered every piece of my lesson.&nbsp; Instances like these, while positive in hindsight, nonetheless in the meantime result in an enormous amount of anxiety!</p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Casey  3.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 187px; float: left;" />One thing I know for sure, I love wetlands.&nbsp; It is nice to be able to teach others about one of your passions.&nbsp; Last week I was able to lead two different groups through our wetland study.&nbsp; While each group had particular characteristics that I felt challenged my teaching, each found joy and wonder at the pond during our afternoon collection event.&nbsp; Nets in hand, the boy/girl dynamic dissolved, students exclaimed their satisfaction with screams of delight and wide-eyed amazement in what they found in their nets.&nbsp; We were sharing wonder for this amazing place and for these amazing creatures.&nbsp; My passion for water and insects collided with their adventure and resulted in something wonderful.</p>
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	In my efforts to teach lessons to the students and ensure that I convey core concepts correctly, it has been humbling to remember the joy of learning, the gift of challenge, and the reward of wonder that accompanies this process.</p>
