#scaac

I grew up in Indiana and studied Landscape Architecture at Ball State University (Muncie, IN).  As I child I visited lots of national parks with my family, so when the SCA recruiter came to my university I remember thinking that it would be cool to work with the National Park Service as an SCA intern.  I applied after college and was fortunate to work with the totally awesome crew at the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation in Boston in Spring 2012.  Among other things I researched and wrote about parts of the Minute Man National Historical Park.  Turns out I'm still connected to that park through my current work as a landscape architect in a private firm.  My employer often consults with the National Park Service, so the skills and connections I gained as an SCA intern definitely helped propel me into my current position, and I consider former Olmsted Center and SCA coworkers good friends.  Today I do all sorts of design and preservation work on public lands in Boston and beyond.  

Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell paid a visit to Boston yesterday to address employees of the Department of the Interior. She is pictured below with SCA alum ('04-08, '12-'13), Alexandra von Bieberstein (left), now a Historical Landscape Architect at the National Park Service Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, and Margie Brown, Olmsted Center Senior Project Manager (right).

In July of 2012, after having just graduated from UC Santa Cruz, I received a call asking if I would accept a position with the SCA in Cambridge, Massachusetts – and be there in two weeks. I had to pack up my entire life, quit my job, find a place to stay across the country (I failed at this), and get on a plane sixteen days later. I don't know how I managed it, but if I were asked to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. Working as an SCA intern has kickstarted my career in a way that all my internships, jobs, and college experience has not.

My 10-month internship was as an Education and Visitor Services intern at the Longfellow House-Washington's National Historic Site (best place ever!)(http://www.nps.gov/long). I learned how to develop my own historic house tours, I did original research in the site's expansive archives, I developed family friendly programs for the house grounds, and basically did something with my undergraduate history degree! Most important of all though, I made friends of my colleagues, who are the most supportive people, and started to build a career in the National Park Service.

I still find myself in Boston since that internship ended. I was lucky enough to get hired as a seasonal park ranger at the Longfellow House the following summer. I've also been lucky enough to work with the Tsongas Industrial History Center, part of Lowell National Historical Park, at Old South Meeting House in downtown Boston, and most recently as an education ranger with the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area. I've noticed that being an SCA intern has given me a level a respect in the Boston historic and NPS community. It's well known that these internships are rigorous and rewarding. The leap in taking them probably requires courage, perhaps a bit of craziness, but I still haven't seen the end of the rewards that it's created for me.