All good things come to an end. A simple saying, but quite true. My internship is ending in a month (it passed so fast!) and its time to look to the future.

The internship has provided a lot to me. I have had the privilege to work with a lot of great people. The Mt. Adams Institute staff deserve special thanks for operating such a beneficial program for veterans seeking natural resource careers. My sincere thanks goes to Shawn, my supervisor, who has provided a lot of guidance to me in my pursuit of a career in range management. He convinced me to go back to college to get my bachelor’s degree despite my initial reluctance (too cool for school!). I also want to thank Jane and Patrick who are in the range department. They taught me a lot about field work and also provided valuable guidance in working for the Forest Service as a career choice. Patrick has been especially helpful in connecting me with possible employers for next year.

If things work out I should have a seasonal range job for 2017. Oregon and Washington job positions have just been listed on USAJOBS so I can start applying. The hiring process will take a while so I won’t find out if I’ve even been selected for an interview for a bit. I’ll also be keeping an eye out for when the Idaho positions get listed since it would be nice to get a job a little closer to Boise, Idaho where I own a home. It’s nice to be able to check on it on the weekends.

I will be attending the University of Idaho this spring in pursuit of my Rangeland Ecology and Management B.S. at Moscow, Idaho. I’m a little nervous at starting college again, but now that I know what I want as a career I will be much more focused than in previous years. My previous college experiences have been a bit meandering since I never really had a clear goal in sight. Thanks to my time in the VetsWork program I now have a clear goal to power towards.