It’s the final week of what has turned out to be a great summer internship. Needless to say, I’m surprised at how quickly my time here has gone, but pleased about all of the personal and professional progress I’ve made since June.

Last week was busy, getting ready for final Scholars Symposium presentations and writing up the sections of the final document that Sea Grant is putting together.  Like I’ve mentioned in passing before, my work and interviews have all lead to the final process of creating a few key parts to a larger document that will be published by Sea Grant later this year about expanding Oregon’s exports to China and the Asian market.  Kenneth Wingerter, the post-bac who initially started the research on the project is going to come back, write an introduction and executive summary, and tie together our information for a final publication with all stakeholders and the community in mind.  While I’m basically just putting together a rough draft to be edited by many others, I can’t wait to see what Ken and everyone else does with our work.

My work this summer has introduced me to so much about the Oregon Coast, working in a position that is meant to educate and help others, and the huge impact international trade plays on our country.  It has given me perspective on one part of the industry, that will be invaluable in navigating my future careers.  I know now that local food marketing is something that I want to become more involved with and to be able to weigh my experience in two extremes of the food marketing system.

I celebrated my birthday this weekend with the great friends I’ve made here in Oregon.  We went out on the town in Newport (yes, it’s possible to go out on the town here!), eventually working our way to Moby Dick’s for some karaoke. Then, I got to enjoy some camping with Diego and Margaretmary for the rest of the weekend.  We went to Terwilliger Hot Springs and got to experience a different part of Oregon — nude outdoors-men included.

I feel so lucky to have gotten this experience and am sincerely grateful to Sarah, Eric, and Jenna for choosing me for my position.  My mentors Tim and Rob were supportive and helpful throughout the process and I couldn’t have done the work I did without their guidance and help.  While I’m not 100% sure about my plans upon returning home, I feel that my experience here will be something that reflects positively on my ability to learn quickly, adjust to new environments, and produce quality work.

This week will be spent finishing drafting all of my information into workable documents, forming my final portfolio, and getting ready to make the long drive back to Louisiana.  And did I mention surf lessons? I can’t express my excitement and happiness over all I’ve experienced this summer, but I think my sadness about having to leave says it all.  To close, I’ll leave you with a few pictures of a great summer…until next time Oregon!

Later Oregon!

swimming with whales!

mussel hunters

My first live performance on the uke

The Sea Grant Ladies