Reflections on a Summer of Service
Our 2024 AmeriCorps Summer of Service crew wrapped up their service just last week! Here are just a few highlights of what the cohort learned and accomplished during an action-packed six weeks.
2024 Summer of Service Highlights
Service
- Worked with Conserving Carolina’s Rock Crushers and Kudzu Warriors volunteer groups to maintain trails and remove kudzu on conservancy lands
- Helped to maintain and expand native plant gardens at the Anne Elizabeth Suratt Nature Center at Walnut Creek Preserve, Oklawaha Greenway, and Polk County Middle School Memorial Garden
- Partnered with MountainTrue to clean up litter along 3.5 miles of the French Broad River, and at 5 access points along the river
- Helped to manage non-native and invasive plants at two of Conserving Carolina’s river restoration sites
- Assisted in nursery maintenance and clean up with the Forest Restoration Alliance at the NC Dept. of Agriculture and NC State University Mountain Research Station
Learning
- Visited many of Conserving Carolina’s preserves for on-site learning about history, habitat restoration, trail building, and our growing partnership with Cherokee artisans
- Learned about importance of native plants in the landscape, and how to identify and manage invasive species like kudzu and privet
- Learned about the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the latest hemlock research at the Forest Restoration Alliance
Training & Team Building
- First Aid and CPR certification
- 3-day backpacking trip in the Shining Rock Wilderness, with a hike up Cold Mountain
- Forest Bathing with Dr. Mattie Decker
Members also had two opportunities to write about their service. Dr. Mattie Decker asked members to write about nature as their mentor, and their supervisor Pam Torlina invited members to share a photo and a highlight from the term. Here are a few members’ reflections on those two themes!
How Is Nature My Mentor?
“Nature is my new mentor because nature is always resilient when times are tough and tends to come back stronger. This applies to me because I am trying to be better at not letting the little things get me down, but to use them as learning experiences so I can grow from them. Personally, I look at the hemlocks and that the adelgid affects some of the trees but there are some that push through.” -Will Griffith
“This summer has shown me just how much larger the world is than just my small circle. Every being on this Earth from a rock to a river to a bird has its own story to tell. By working in the field or simply sitting outside, I have been constantly reminded of how much wisdom nature holds. I just have to be open enough to listen. I know now that each being has some lesson to teach me. Just yesterday, I came across a tiny baby mouse struggling without sight to find its mother. I was struck by both just how small it was, but also how pure and innocent. Seeing something like that really reminds you of the importance of compassion. My wish for myself as I complete SOS is…to continue to foster the connections I have made here, with nature, the people I have met, and myself.” -Anonymous
“Nature is the mentor of man. Nature is the ultimate perfection, the most efficient being on Earth. All of man’s creation is but imagination of the time-tested and time-weathered processes of mother nature. Having had the opportunity to witness Mother Nature in her splendor this summer, I have witnessed her perfect efficiency. From micro-invertebrates to the grass and moss below us. My wish for myself as I complete SOS is to find a job in the future that will bring me as much fulfillment and purpose as SOS has.” -Daedin Boeckx
Share a photo and a highlight of your service
“Being a part of Summer of Service this year was a great and profound experience. I’m so incredibly proud of all of the positive impacts that we made in and around our community. While it was very satisfying on days when we saw an entire project come to fruition, I also really appreciated what we were able to accomplish in our service day with the Kudzu Warriors. Kudzu is an incredibly overwhelming problem, and it’s really hard to find the motivation to even begin fighting this invasive plant due to just how widespread it is, but I learned a lot about just how important it is that we do what we can. There is probably no possible way to eradicate Kudzu at this point, but I saw firsthand just how much of an impact can be made when even a small group of people takes a few hours to do what they can to help save native species that are being suffocated by the overgrowth of Kudzu. I will take many lessons with me moving forward as a result of this program, but the fight against Kudzu taught me a very meaningful one about the importance of every individual taking action in whatever ways they are able, because even if you don’t see an immediate positive impact, the results of your endeavors will ripple outward in so many ways that you would never expect.” -Anonymous
“It is definitely difficult to pick just one highlight because this experience was so awesome. Everyone in the group was so connected and that just made the whole summer fun no matter the difficulty of the work we were doing. Every Thursday was my recovery day from the week’s hard work, but come Friday I already wanted it to be Monday just so I could see everyone again. But if I had to pick one thing [highlight] it would probably be backpacking. I don’t think there is any better way to get to know people and build trust with everyone before we begin a whole month of challenging work that would not be possible alone. I just love this picture [below]! I think that no other picture could sum up this team’s group dynamic any better. Thanks again Pam for letting me be a part of Summer of Service once again! I loved every minute of it (except maybe the Sun at Oklawaha!)” -Abby
“Having the opportunity to participate in Summer of Service was a very special experience. Through SoS I have found a love and passion for the outdoors and keeping it safe and clean. One of my favorite experiences was the backpacking trip. That trip showed me that being in the outdoors is truly my happy place; I don’t believe I have ever felt happier or more at peace. After backpacking and every day after service, I felt such a sense of fulfillment that I don’t think I’ve really felt in that way before. During backpacking, being up in those woods with almost no one around, felt so tranquil.
Summer of Service has helped me find out more about myself and realize I want to be a part of making a positive impact in the world. I believe this is an experience that opens your eyes to a lot that happens in and impacts the environment. I think a lot more people would care more for the earth if they had experiences like this service.
I would not have spent my summer any other way, thank you.” -Hannah Lee
