Four WildLink Alumni Join the National Park Service as Yosemite Association Interns

It was a very special summer for four outstanding WildLink alumni. Francisco (Expedition IV), Katie (Expedition I), Dalinna and Carla (ESA 2005) spent the summer as Yosemite Association Interns in Yosemite National Park, working side by side with established park staff. Katie, Delena and Carla were based in Wawona, and Francisco in Yosemite Valley at the Wilderness Permit Center.

Last week the interns met with Park Superintendent Mike Tollefson, Yosemite Association Education Programs Director Pete Devine, and NPS interpretive managers and supervisory staff at a special presentation. Each intern received a $2,000.00 scholarship for college and hearty praise from everyone who had worked with them over the summer. WildLink would like to congratulate these talented young people for a job well done, and wish them many happy returns to Yosemite for both work and play.

For a close up look at an intern's life, read Francisco's interview to the right.

Save the Date! WildLink Family Weekend Coming This Fall

WildLink Family Weekend is coming this Fall! Save the dates on your calendars. It will be held on Friday, November 4 through Sunday, November 6. This event is available to WildLink alumni and their families, all expenses paid (once you arrive in Yosemite), and an opportunity for them to share Yosemite with their loved ones. The weekend will feature campfires, family style dinners, optional guided hikes and free time to explore with your families.

Invitations were sent to last year's alumni last week, so if you haven't yet received yours and are interested, contact me as soon as possible. The first ones to respond will be granted spots for the weekend; numbers are limited! If you have questions or are interested and haven't received an invitation, contact Mandy Vance at mandy_vance@partner.nps.gov. We hope to see you there!

WildLink Teacher Development Weekend Dates Announced

WildLink is happy to announce the dates for its annual Fall Teacher Development Weekend. The event will be held Friday, September 30 until Sunday, October 2, in Yosemite National Park. This program is designed specifically for WildLink teachers.

With minimal staffing and a wide service area, WildLink depends on our teachers to be mentors, liaisons, and transportation for the participating students. The WildLink Teacher Development Weekend prepares them for their very important roles, so that the WildLink message is supported in their classrooms both before and beyond their wilderness expedition experiences, significantly deepening and widening the impact on the students, their families and communities.

In response several years of requests, this fall we will be offering teachers an opportunity to get out on the trail for some real Wilderness experiences in the high country of Tuoloumne Meadows (minus the camping). Teachers will have the opportunity to experience many of the wonders that their students do on WildLink expeditions, as well as stimulating curriculum that they can take back to their classrooms.

Information packets and calls for RSVPs are going out in mid-late August, but if you know you are attending now or just have questions, feel free to contact Mandy at mandy_vance@partner.nps.gov.

A Summer in Yosemite: Francisco's Story

Yosemite Association intern and WildLink alumni Francisco has had a summer full of work, play and adventure, but we finally caught up with him to talk about his experience in the Park this summer. Read on to hear his story!

Questions:

What are two of the best things about your internship so far?

The two best things about my internship would be the following: making Yosemite a part of me, and allowing the further honing my life skills.

What do I mean by “making Yosemite a part of me” ? Yosemite has gradually become my home to the point that I’m already planning and thinking of different trips I’ll want to take when I go back home. I feel that I know the park like home, when I’m actually well aware of the many things that I haven’t seen or learned. Before I move on, let me declare that knowing the park fairly well doesn’t mean anything unless you genuinely became interested in protecting it for yourself and generations to come. By “making Yosemite a part of me” I mainly refer to the fact that I feel a call to cherish and protect what makes it precious-it’s Wilderness.

What are two of the hardest things about your internship so far?

I don’t think I find anything about my internship particularly hard. I’ll admit that sometimes visitors come up with hard questions, which have put me in situations that have been uncomfortable. There are just too many things to learn about Yosemite to meet the needs of all the different visitors (who sometimes have different, complicated questions and they all want professional, thorough answers). Even those who have been here for several years will admit that once in a while someone will ask them a question which they cannot answer without consulting an expert colleague.

Concerning help and advice, my co-workers have been great. All of them have taken the time and patience to help me be competent in all matters of my job at the Wilderness Center. Whenever I need help I don’t hesitate to ask for it, knowing that it’s always there.

Other than feeling bad when I can’t answer a visitor’s question because of my lack of experience, everything’s awesome about the way my internship has turned out.

Tell me about your favorite hike you've done so far in Yosemite.

Of all my hikes this summer none have been as fun and special as Half Dome.
When you get frequent questions from the visitors about Half Dome and its cables, you want to be able to answer with confidence and assurance. How do you get confidence and assurance when taking about Half Dome to someone who wants to know everything they possibly can? You personally go up to Half Dome and see the trail for yourself. I did just that, I went to the top of Half Dome and now I love to get questions about Half Dome because I can share not only information, but also my personal insight and delight in going to the top.

Personally, going up to Half Dome in two days was special for being my first solo backpack trip. Everything went well, with disappointing exception of the over salty, super hard beans that I had for dinner the night I stayed at Little Yosemite Valley.

Tell me a little about your job in the Wilderness Permit Center. What do you do there?

My job at the Wilderness Center consists mainly of educating the visitors of why and how we need to protect our wilderness. Most of the visitors have a good idea of how to protect the ninety-five percent wilderness of the park, but it’s not until you get the message across of why they should, that they respond.

I think my job is special because I get to talk to the visitors face to face and teach them about protecting the park for the future enjoyment of other generations (which I believe is the goal of everybody that does their share of service for the park).

The Wilderness Center gives out permits for those who want to enjoy the beautiful wilderness of the park in overnight hikes. I always get a special, warm feeling of happiness in my heart when I see a hiker who has come back to return a canister and their answer to my “how was your hike?” is; “It was awesome, such and such place was gorgeous.”

The Wilderness Center has also been a great place to work because I get to go on patrol hikes where you hopefully encounter visitors who are following good wilderness ethics. If they are not, then you get to professionally educate them on what they need to work on.

What do you do in your spare time here, after work and on the weekends?

On my spare time I like to keep myself busy through different physical and intellectual activities.

My housing in El Portal allowed great swims in the Merced River and Crane Creek with my roommates. Here in the valley it doesn’t get hot enough to jump in the chilly Merced, but there are also a lot of good places for swimming. I frequently take good bike ride in Yosemite Valley’s extensive bike paths after work or during a break at work to relax. Cooking’s something that can be considered as something that I do in my time off because it takes time, and it’s fun to learn how to cook new things. I can proudly say that I learned how to cook some pretty good mashed potatoes this summer.

Hiking, there’s no other better way of seeing Yosemite, and I try to get out whenever I can. I haven’t done any climbing yet, but I hope to be introduced by my co-worker climbers.

Reading’s always fun and edifying, I try to include a healthy amount into my schedule no matter what.

Last but not least, hanging out with co-workers and relaxing is always good after a draining week of work.

What is something you've learned about yourself that surprised you this summer?

Coming out to Yosemite has exposed me to persons of different beliefs, values, and life styles. I’ve enjoyed their company because they challenge me to see things in different perspectives. My big surprise comes in how I thought I had everything figured out, and now I see that I have much to learn. Most of my surprise is the spiritual frustration that I feel, a deep yearning to learn and grasp more. There are so many new thoughts and doubts, how will I go about in addressing them I ask myself. There’s also the fear of being weak of character because I’m going through an “identity alteration".

I’ve figured that I will be well in the end because I’m I being prudent and cautious in all my steps, well aware of how crucial this point of my life is to the rest.

What advice would you offer to other WildLink alumni thinking about working a summer in Yosemite?

Be prepare, expect hard work and lots of learning before having fun doing hikes and other enjoyable things in the park. The internship should not be taken lightly because it truly is a great privilege to get to live and be trained freely (actually paid, or rewarded with a good scholarship and stipend) in such a wonderful place.

Second word of advice, have fun. Never lose a chance to try something new, if it’s from hiking an unfamiliar trail, to climbing. You never know if your going to be back so enjoy Yosemite as much as possible while you can. Personally, I lost the chance to do more because of my poor planning. Don’t make the mistake I did, plan as many hikes and other activities with co-workers, friends from home, etc. I don’t think you can have a bad time in Yosemite, maybe I could see someone who is simply not a people person have a sour time with visitors. In the end, it’s all up to you Wildlink alumni; you can make whatever you want of your internship.