A week of Conferences

The title pretty much says it all. I was in my office one day this week, the rest of it was spent at conferences. First up, the KUPU Conference. So in case you aren't aware of how my internship works, heres the low down. So I am technically an Americorp Intern, which is a federal program to send interns to different locations to assist with environmental, health, education, etc issues. Its basically Peace Corp for the US only. How I got this internship is through this group called KUPU that is in charge of us Americorp interns focused strictly in Hawaiian environmental issues. Up first was a meeting with all the KUPU interns in Hawaii. It was really interesting to see the mix of the people; there were a lot more out of state people like me than I originally thought there would be. There were people from 17 up to 34 so the age range was actually quite broad, though it seems most people were around my age, looking for some work experience after college. It was also really interesting to hear all the different things everyone is doing. I think most people were out in the field a lot more than I am, doing things like removing invasive algae from coral reefs by snorkeling all day, or doing natural area reserves systems (NARS) which basically means they are putting fences up, rat traps and more invasive control. There were people from all the islands and with completely different majors as well so it really just varied a lot. This day was spent bonding doing ice breakers and such, and figuring out our menu for our service trips in a few months. I missed out on the awesome Kalapapa trip to Molokai (where the lepers were sent) and am going to a beach house on Oahu's North Shore and helping with seabirds. I guess when you are in Hawaii, you can never really lose :)

The next day was a meeting with all the Americorp people in Hawaii. This meant there were people from Legal Aid, Teach for America, Affordable Homeless and Housing Alliance, and us KUPU kids. There was an uplifting speech from the Mayor on the Big Island reminding us that we are doing something incredible for doing community service. I had forgotten that is what I was actually doing. Mostly I was focusing on the fact that I was bettering my career through more experience and networking, but I am supplying services for much cheaper than my education and experience deserves. And I seem to forget sometimes that there are people out there who don't think environmental issues should be something we give money to. Basically it was nice to be reminded of the role we are playing as Americorp interns and our duty

The next day was one of the most boring days ever. We were getting certified by Red Cross in shelter training so that in case of emergencies that required shelters we would be able to voluteer and help. The first hour wasn't too bad because it was good things to know in case we get called to come help out. Then we were working in groups to do scenarios and thats when the stupid questions began. I don't know if people don't have common sense or thought they were being funny, but honestly I don't think we need to know exactly what to do if Genghis Khan shows up to our shelter. I think the adrenaline will kick in and you will know what to do if the time comes and if you use common sense its not difficult to know what to do. Fortunately, the benefit is that I am not certified to assist in case of emergencies. I also got CPR and first aid certified last week so now I can help in all different types of emergencies!

I was also irritated at the training because I knew I had to go to work after to pack up and prepare to leave for the Big Island for a conference the next day and thought my time would be better used doing that then listening to silly questions. I left the next day at 5am (which meant I was up at 3:30 to be at the airport at 4) which is never how I want to start my day. Getting up before the sun, let alone starting work before the sun, should just be a sin in my universe. I think I had about 7 cups of coffee before noon and the conference went till 5. It was a cattlemens ranchers conference, probably the only place in the world where you see men with hatboxes (for their cowboy hats) and their cowboy boots clip clop louder than any woman's heels. It was an interesting experience, there were mostly vendors selling cattle vaccines, calfcandy?, and other weird cattle things that I had absolutely no idea about. Then there was us (DOFAW and USDA) and NRCS; the state and federal agencies. We were ignored a bit more than the others despite our many swag items. I had been so nervous about memorizing what I needed to know and it turned out to be a bit unnessary since no one really asked me any questions.

My booth

The hotel the conference took place, not too shabby

Overall it was a lot of fun to get to travel for work and nice to take some responsibility. It really meant a lot that my bosses trusted me after only a month to travel for work by myself and represent our office. I also got to meet up with a friend of mine living in Hilo for dinner at the Kona Brewing Co (a must when you're in Kona right?) which was really great. Now its back to the office for this week, though Thanksgiving is on Thursday so I will have a nice day off to make up for working on Saturday. I have plans to go with my Grandma's side of the family to Thanksgiving lunch BUFFET and then Thanksgiving dinner with my family I am living with. I am going to be so stuffed. We will see how two meals will go...I think my Friday will have to include a long run.