By Averi Belin, 2025 Summer Education and Outreach Intern
I started the Pathways into Natural Environments and Sciences (PINES) program in the Spring Semester of 2024 and joined with a strong interest in agriculture in hopes of one day being a farmer. But the more I learned about the labor of farming, the more I realized it’s not for me. I still wanted to work in the agricultural and the environmental field and was leaning towards outreach and advocacy because I really liked telling people what I was doing in PINES with TLC, like meeting with people who work on the Karen Community Farm and volunteering with CORRAL.
When I found out about the Education and Outreach (E&O) internship through the PINES program, I was really driven to land this internship because I had already admired what Kayla and Meera do, so having the opportunity to shadow them was very inspiring! As I started working with the E&O team, I realized this role was bigger than I assumed. Within the first week I was getting to know the staff more and helping with the very successful Land and Harvest festival. I really enjoyed running the “Kidz Corner” where we did crafts and games with the kids.
After the festival we started working diligently on my lesson plan for my program, “Garden Buddies.” In the beginning stages of my lesson plan, I struggled a lot. At first, there was a lot of trial and error, but I was grateful for the support from the E&O team and from all the TLC staff who helped me practice and gave me tips. I made an array of crafts and games like “Food Journey Relay” where students played a relay game showing the distribution of food. Developing and executing the lesson plan was just the right amount of challenging and rewarding, and seeing the participants enjoy the crafts was very heartwarming.
Of all the amazing views I saw at TLC’s preserve during my internship, the White Pines preserve was the most memorable for me. I met with Nick Adams and Luke Whiteside and we learned about the history of White Pines and why it’s so important to have spaces like these. I think throughout this E&O internship I learned a lot about myself, mainly through the development of “Garden Buddies.” I was able to express myself through art and my love for environmental science which was interesting to experience. The hardest part about this was realizing it’s okay to ask for help when you need it. I was trying so hard not to make my lesson plan someone else’s problem, but after I had help from Meera and Kayla, I was able to tailor it to my liking and make a really great lesson plan. Being able to do this shifted my career path towards more of an educational route, because I loved how challenging this was and how willing I was to make it work and get better. I have never seen myself do that in much of anything else.
I am especially grateful for this position as it is giving more guidance before I start my first semester at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. I applied to the school with no specific idea of what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to work in the environmental field through my experience with PINES, MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences), and FFA (Future Farmers of America). These programs taught me there is so much pride in working for the land. Triangle Land Conservancy has been a great and generous resource to me and my exploration of my interests. I think the best part of TLC for me is that I know I can come back. I hold the constant support and encouragement I get from TLC close to my heart for giving me the beginning steps of my college career.
