As I finished my summer internship at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory with the University of South Carolina, I began to reflect on all that I have learned, the people I have met, and the memories I have made. This summer I had the amazing opportunity to live in a completely new state and do a job that I see myself doing in my future. I was able to gain a plethora of field experiences and network with students and professionals in the field. Being able to do this has given me a much clearer understanding and path of how to make it in the extremely competitive field of environmental science and given me contacts that I know will help me through every step of the process. 
While at Baruch this summer, I primarily worked with Matt Kimball on an intertidal creek project. In this project, we were seining various creeks that got cut off from the main channels at low tide to look at their nursery value for juvenile fish and shrimp. We were primarily interested in the white shrimp populations and sizes, so after we pulled the seine, we would often throw cast nets and run kick nets along the creek to gather more shrimp. After we sampled the six predetermined creeks, we would take the catch back and sort and measure everything. Doing this taught me how to adjust and be comfortable in any weather conditions, how to identify many various species, and how to measure all the different species. During this project, I also learned a lot about how to drive a boat, and I became a lot more comfortable backing a trailer.
The intertidal creek project was not the only project I worked on though. I worked on numerous other projects, including a gut contents project which was looking at what various fish are eating in the estuary, a crab survey which was looking at the size and population of crabs within the estuary, and a soil and water carbon project in the swamp and forest. I also went to look at alligator nests. Doing all of these gave me a wide array of experiences in multiple different specializations within the field of environmental science, which made me more confident in what specialization I want to go into. 
The BMFL employees are truly like a family, so we had multiple potlucks, kickball games, and weekly volleyball games among many other things. This showed me how amazing a workplace can be and gave me an idea of what I want to be looking for in the future. Every single person I met there was incredibly kind and willing to help you with anything and everything as well as answering any questions you may have had. They want the best for every one of the interns, and they seem to gain just as much as the interns do from the experience. You can tell that they are extremely passionate about what they do and want to help inspire the next generation to be the same way.
Between the experiences I had at the lab and the people I met, I have made memories and incredible growth in my personal, academic, and professional life. This internship has reassured me that I am in the right field with the right intentions and has prepared me to succeed.