Working as the Communications Intern at Dogwood this summer has inspired me even more deeply to dedicate my career to environmental work and led my love of nature to grow even stronger – and I wouldn’t have thought that was possible!
It was mid-October, the Fall Break of my sophomore year at Duke, and I spent the weekend visiting Asheville and camping in Pisgah National Forest. I immediately fell in love with the city and the mountains and forests that surround it, and I knew that I would eventually have to make Asheville my home. Through the Stanback internship program and Dogwood Alliance, I had the lucky opportunity to do so this summer—while protecting some of the very trees that brought me here in the first place.
As a 24-year old professional degree candidate, I suppose it’s pretty unusual that I am actually doing my first ever internship. Being excited and somewhat nervous, I brought my suits and high-heels with me. Well, it turned out that I worried too much. The city is so Bohemian, which means literally everyone is more casual than you might be; and luckily Dogwood Alliance cares more about your performance than your appearance.
My internship developing a business plan for the selling of carbon credits in the virtual carbon market was such a novel thing for me. I was totally obsessed with the idea during my interview for the internship with Andrew Goldberg, Dogwood Alliance’s Director of Corporate Engagement. To explore a completely new field and really contribute my own effort to the project was a dream for me, and what I got as an intern in Dogwood Alliance is far greater than that.
