Jumping on Opportunities

Left to right: Jeb, Michael, Andrea, Ronja, Tien, Knut

The Peaks Hike is a backpacking trip that happens every June. It is a 7 day long trip around the San Francisco Peaks. The first hike, which happened 42 years ago, was a protest against the construction of condominiums on Harts Prairie. I have been on 5 hikes in years prior, and was not planning on going on this year's, because I was supposed to be in Germany. However, a week before the start of the hike, I emailed one of the leaders, Knut, about possibly going on the hike. I knew it would be risky, considering we are in the middle of a pandemic, but I also knew I would try my best to be safe, and it would be awesome to see people and places I knew growing up.

Knut responded, saying there was actually another couple driving down from California, and that I could catch a ride with them. I got in contact with them, and they were happy to bring me along, since they had space in their car and live about an hour north of where I do.

Four days after I had initially emailed Knut, I got in a car with two wonderful strangers, Andrea and Jeb, and drove to Arizona. We spent the night in the Mojave desert, which is a beautiful area, and took a little walk in the morning on which Jeb and I spent 20 minutes trying (and succeeding!) in catching a California Whiptail lizard with a makeshift noose.

In Flagstaff, I stayed with Shannon, a mother of an old classmate and a great friend. Because of the pandemic, we socially distanced inside her home, making sure to always wear a mask, stay 6 feet apart, and disinfect surfaces frequently. It was tedious, but little did I know it would be my new normal beyond my stay with her.

On Monday, June 15th, a group of 6 started hiking at Lockett Meadow. This 7 day hike would take us around the San Francisco Peaks and into the Inner Basin in time for the sunrise ceremony on June 21, the longest day of the year. The hike was filled with wonderful and challenging conversations, beautiful skies, and horny toads that we poured water on (a superstition hoping to summon rain). It is one of my favorite times of the year, and I seriously hope to return to the Peaks every year for the hike and help keep the tradition alive.

Once back in town, I had the chance to see several friends (not as many as in other years, due to the caution surrounding in-person interactions and the fact that Covid-19 cases were rising again in Arizona). Additionally, I had the opportunity to talk with Shannon's wife, Grace, who runs an environmental consulting business named the Galileo Project, LLC. She explained to me that the company's work involves record-keeping and facilitation of public involvement for projects that are in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. I was very interested, since this is exactly what a job could look like for someone in my field, and it is work that fascinates me.

"If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask me!", Grace said, and I saw a door open right in front of me.

"Do you take interns?"

She said if I could get her a resume and cover letter by the next evening, she would have her team consider it. I spent the next morning editing my resume and writing a cover letter on a borrowed iPad, and with my mom's editing help, was able to send them to Grace that evening.

Andrea and Jeb, who I had traveled with on the way to Flagstaff, were not going back directly, so I decided to take a Greyhound Bus from Flagstaff to Sacramento to get home. The trip would take 22 hours, but I had done a longer bus trip in Peru, and thought it would expose me to less Covid-19 than flying on a plane and transferring planes multiple times. The Greyhound website had made it seem like many precautions were being taken on the buses, from "ozonation" to disinfect to requiring masks onboard. I thought I was good to go.

I boarded the bus at 6 am (it was an hour late), but even before I boarded, I had a chance to see some of my fellow passengers, as about 10 people came out to smoke. As I got on the bus, I realized I was in trouble: it was PACKED, and I ended up having to sit down next to someone (which I was not expecting). The seats were even less spacious and padded than airplane seats, and looking around at the people, I came to realize something. In South America, taking a bus is a pretty normal thing, so many of the people who take the bus are very "average". However, in the US, if a person has any sort of money, they will either commute long distances by driving or flying, which means that the people who take the bus are those who cannot afford to do otherwise. On the bus around me, there were several people who only spoke Spanish, a lady who was missing many of her teeth, and people with tattoos (and not just the nice kind, a young woman with a tear tattooed on her face, which usually represents going to prison for a murder. She looked like a very nice person though). Only about half of the people on the packed bus were wearing masks, which lead to my being very on edge: this bus had traveled all the way from New York, and the people on it obviously did not have the privilege of social distancing. I had packed a bag of food for the trip, but since it is very difficult to eat with a mask on, most of it went uneaten. When I did eat, I either dropped a piece of food down from the top of my mask, or held my breath, removed my mask, took a bite, and replaced my mask. How very unfortunate, I thought, that humans breathe and eat through the same place on our bodies.

Once I arrived at home, I went into quarantine in an effort to protect my family, since I had been potentially exposed to Covid-19 many times. This meant that I stayed in my room most of the time, and only left my room with a mask on. My parents fixed all of my food, and we would eat lunch and dinner outside, with me sitting at least 6 feet away. I do not like feeling like a bio-hazard and a danger to everyone around me, but even now, a month later, I will walk out of my room and have a moment of panic when I realize I'm not wearing a mask, only to remember that my exile is over. Luckily, I was able to get a Covid-19 test, which confirmed (on the last day of my quarantine), that I was negative for the virus.

On July 1st, I started my internship with Galileo (link to the website: https://galileoaz.com/)! So far, it has mostly consisted of reading material designed to help me understand the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as Environmental Impact Statements. I did attend a public meeting about the construction of the Lake Powell Pipeline, and took notes on the meeting about how much I was able to understand as someone with very limited experience with the process. I have learned a lot so far, and although it can be tedious at times to read the lengthy documents, I enjoy the material and look forward to continuing to learn.

I also signed up for the "Freshman Summer Start Program" at UC Santa Barbara. Usually, this program takes place on campus and allows freshman to take a few classes, and get to know the campus and people. However, this year it is taking place online, and I will be taking an online "Shakespeare Intensive" course. My internship and class will keep me busy until I start classes in the fall. There hasn't been any concrete word yet about whether or not I will be on campus in the fall.

That's it for now, thanks for reading!