Intern Discovers Life, Possibilities In Virginia
by Kathy Kim - Lake Washington Watershed Intern

Editor's note: One of our Lake Washington Watershed interns was among a number of high school students from around the country chosen to spend part of their summer in Virginia. It was a very special internship at the Mountain Lake Biological Station conducted by Duke University. Kathy Kim wrote the following article describing her adventure.

I came to →Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS) expecting to see "mountain streams, sphagnum bogs and strands of red spruce all within walking distance of the station," according to the station Web site, which I anxiously googled the day before I left Washington to see what my trip would be like. My first thought was that it sounded eerily similar to the creeks, bogs and red cedars that stand out so much at the Mercer Slough. I began instantly to have a notion that my →Duke TIP program would be searching for macroinvertebrates and taking water samples to check for quality and all the things I did as an intern in Bellevue. But while the things I learned at the Lake Washington Watershed Internship Program certainly did help me identify the unfamiliar mid-Atlantic deciduous trees in Virginia and know by heart the definition of a watershed, it was far from the ordinary intern meeting. I had no idea that what I've learned at Mercer Slough was a mere introduction of stream ecology or the science community.

At MLBS, I gained an understanding of what daily life was like for professional biologists. Where I could attend a seminar of social niche construction Tuesday night and talk to the same scientist about the harmless bats that inhabited the girls' cabin the next morning at breakfast. It was an eclectic place, with bluegrass music and the occasional fiddle filling the night air. It was truly isolated from cities and roads and the biological variations at Mountain Lake made it the perfect place for many scientists to conduct their studies.

Of the many hikes at Mountain Lake, the most rewarding (and tiring) was our last to MacAfee's Knob on the Appalachian Trail. We hiked along the trail and occasionally stopped for our instructor to point out things like Sassafras (a root beer-scented plant) or how not to get too lost on the trail. When we finally stumbled to the top, the view was amazing and to feel the wind between my fingers and to dangle my exhausted feet over the edge was most gratifying. At the tiptop, I appreciated my experience in Virginia. I took a deep breath and felt comforted, not just to search for facts, but search for meaning behind each inquisition. The entire field study had been gratifying, not just that moment at the top (pun intended). After a few pictures, we got up for the inevitable hike down, which was mindboggling uphill for most of the way.

Being a Mercer Slough intern has helped me see beyond the facts and certainly beyond what I can learn in any classroom. Without the experience as an intern, I wouldn't have been able to even gain an interest into this world. I feel more knowledgeable yet more settled about the unknown. The science community is made up of real people living, breathing, experiencing firsthand what they find curious and searching for the unknown. What was unique about mountain ecology was that it was usually outside, in caves, under heavy rocks and apparently beside a lot of pond sludge.

I left after two weeks with many memories from Virginia but what I found most valuable was that I left with a glimpse of a possible future.

Interested in the →Lake Washington Watershed Internship Program? Recruitment for this award winning program begins in late September at high schools in Bellevue, South Seattle and Renton. Look for us at your school or contact us at →MercerSlough_teens@pacsci.org if you live in these communities to set up an interview for this year-long internship program.