We're leaving for the airport in about 10 hours so I figured it was time to write my first (and final) blog post of the summer. It's not that I haven't tried. I've had a reminder on my phone that says "BLOG POST!!" for the past three weeks. The problem I had was that I didn't know what to write. I've read everyone else's posts, felt inspired, and sat down to write my own but I would end up leaving the page with nothing.
But anyway, here I am, 10:45 pm the night before our 11:25am flight (for which I am waking up at 7am - riding public transit with a million tons of luggage is no fun), writing this. Work's done, DukeEngage is done, my time with all these people is done (for now). It's bittersweet but also exciting. I loved Portland, probably more than any other major city I've ever been in (if Portland can be considered a major city). I definitely plan on coming back, but I do miss home. I look forward to seeing my parents and my cats and going forward from this summer with experience I never thought I'd gain. While my summer was entirely office work (with one fun work rafting trip - thanks Crag!), I gained invaluable skills that will inevitably be useful to me in the future. I learned how to research, write, and review grants, I sharpened my communication skills, I got experience working with a donor database and entering data, and I had the opportunity to publish some of my writing on the Crag website and, later, in their printed newsletter. I have Suzanne to thank for all that - she was an amazing supervisor who always provided me with support but allowed me to do things the way I wanted to without holding me back. The Crag office is small, so I had the opportunity to get to know everyone else in the office as well, and they all brought something different to the office environment that made my summer with them enjoyable.
Bob and Sarah have been amazing leaders, directors, and friends on this trip. Without their support this summer would have been significantly less enjoyable, and knowing that they believed in me helped me to push through the summer with confidence. Bob always had information to share about wherever we were or whatever we were doing. It was clear he knew everything there was to know, and hence the title of Wizard of Knowledge was bestowed upon him. Sarah provided the inside scoop on Portland (even if she couldn't help us find our way around town when we first got here) and became a great friend and resource for us in the process. Bob and Sarah - I wish you both the best with whatever the future holds.
I wrote some sappy paragraph about my fellow DukeEngage students but it just sounded weird so I got rid of it. I'll say this - the people I spent the summer with are an amazing group of people who come from all over the place with all different interests and majors, but we all clicked together. There are some parts of this trip that I wouldn't have been able to handle without the support of the group and knowing that they always had my back. Thanks, you guys.
It's 11:20pm now so I should probably go to sleep. It's been a long last day in Portland.
Erin Elliott
But anyway, here I am, 10:45 pm the night before our 11:25am flight (for which I am waking up at 7am - riding public transit with a million tons of luggage is no fun), writing this. Work's done, DukeEngage is done, my time with all these people is done (for now). It's bittersweet but also exciting. I loved Portland, probably more than any other major city I've ever been in (if Portland can be considered a major city). I definitely plan on coming back, but I do miss home. I look forward to seeing my parents and my cats and going forward from this summer with experience I never thought I'd gain. While my summer was entirely office work (with one fun work rafting trip - thanks Crag!), I gained invaluable skills that will inevitably be useful to me in the future. I learned how to research, write, and review grants, I sharpened my communication skills, I got experience working with a donor database and entering data, and I had the opportunity to publish some of my writing on the Crag website and, later, in their printed newsletter. I have Suzanne to thank for all that - she was an amazing supervisor who always provided me with support but allowed me to do things the way I wanted to without holding me back. The Crag office is small, so I had the opportunity to get to know everyone else in the office as well, and they all brought something different to the office environment that made my summer with them enjoyable.
Bob and Sarah have been amazing leaders, directors, and friends on this trip. Without their support this summer would have been significantly less enjoyable, and knowing that they believed in me helped me to push through the summer with confidence. Bob always had information to share about wherever we were or whatever we were doing. It was clear he knew everything there was to know, and hence the title of Wizard of Knowledge was bestowed upon him. Sarah provided the inside scoop on Portland (even if she couldn't help us find our way around town when we first got here) and became a great friend and resource for us in the process. Bob and Sarah - I wish you both the best with whatever the future holds.
I wrote some sappy paragraph about my fellow DukeEngage students but it just sounded weird so I got rid of it. I'll say this - the people I spent the summer with are an amazing group of people who come from all over the place with all different interests and majors, but we all clicked together. There are some parts of this trip that I wouldn't have been able to handle without the support of the group and knowing that they always had my back. Thanks, you guys.
It's 11:20pm now so I should probably go to sleep. It's been a long last day in Portland.
Erin Elliott