by Susannah Prenoveau | July 19, 2021
Preparing to exit my term of service with the Nisqually Land Trust brings mixed feelings. It’s been a tremendous year of growth for me as I’m sure these years are for all AmeriCorps members, and I can’t thank the site staff and volunteers enough for welcoming me in and treating me as if I’d been with them all along.
Being on the land and learning what it takes to restore habitat in the Nisqually River Watershed has opened up a new world to me, which includes lots of fieldwork, detailed planning, and dedicated, long-term support from volunteers, partners, and the communities of the watershed. Over the last 10 months, this new world has become a place where I am not simply a consumer of the outside world, but a participant in its ongoing growth and development. I have discovered how I am one part of a larger team that works in connection with the environment around me, giving back as nature freely gives to all of us.
My service term may be finishing up in just a few weeks, but this experience will forever be a part of my life from here on out, along with this watershed and its amazing beauty and resilience. It’s an experience that will not only be a sweet memory of a time in service to the land but also a steppingstone toward the greater responsibility laid upon my heart to do whatever I can to protect and conserve this lovely earth, finding ways to continue to grow and work with nature for the sake of my family’s future and the future of all the generations to come after me.
One part of my responsibilities as an AmeriCorps member includes submitting a “story of service” each quarter of my 10 and ½ month term. These are sent to the Washington Service Corps to post on their website and social media. The purpose of a service story is to share my experience and the impact I have at my assigned site as well as the impact it has on me! Writing my story at the Land Trust has become a “looked forward to” part of my service, documenting my time and sharing it. This is my last “story of service” for my term, as I will complete my 1700 hours at the end of July and pass on my NLT Volunteer Coordinator duties to the next AmeriCorps Members lucky enough to be chosen to serve with the Land Trust. I do plan on and hope to continue to see you out on the land at work parties and other NLT events. Just because it’s the end of my official service with the Land Trust, it’s certainly not the end of my service to the land and this important conservation organization for the Nisqually River Watershed. So, it’s not goodbye, but instead, it’s “see you soon!”