Its that time of the year when the grass is drying out and the kids are going back to school, and that includes me! I am off to the University of Minnesota to pursue a degree in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. This summer has been so much fun even though it was a short two months. I got to meet three wonderful people along the way, and together we made quite the team. We worked hard, and played even harder–as seen in our victory at trivia night.
Even in my second summer I learned so much. Together we discussed in depth, the experiments that are held in each of the common gardens. Coming out of the discussions left me with a bigger understanding and respect for the project that I didn’t quite have before.
Even though we played hard outside of work, work was still fun. This summer was filled a lot of shenanigans that I didn’t get to experience last summer. We had visitors from St. Olaf that helped us measure ExPt02. Not only were they a great help, we had a fun time making supper for them and going out on Lake Oscar together. I also got to do a lot more common garden maintenance than last summer, which was surprisingly fun.
Overall, I had a great summer working with Maria, Max, Stuart, Wyatt, and Yavonne. I learned more about the project, met cool people, and I have more great stories to tell for college ice breakers. Learning about the prairie has sent me on a path of life that I never expected and I hope someday that this path leads me back to the Echinacea Project once more.
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