A Studio in the Woods was such a wonderful experience. I feel like I made some really close connections with the kids and was so happy to be able to watch them grow and learn over the course of the camp. Each of them was so individual with such varied ways of seeing and understanding the world around them. I am so grateful to have gotten the experience to see the world through their eyes for a little bit!
I’m not really sure what is next for me, but I am exploring other careers that incorporate both environmentalism and art, such as landscape architecture. There is so much more that I want to learn and experience, and after this internship I’ve realized I would love to learn more about horticulture and native plant species. To any students interested in interning at A Studio in the Woods, I would be happy to talk and couldn’t recommend it more! It truly is beautiful and wholesome in every possible way. You will meet some amazing people and be so grateful to get to spend time in a beautiful hardwood oasis in the middle of the city. I was lucky to have been given so much freedom to incorporate my own projects and improvise ideas with the kids, such as the solar pizza oven and chocolate “chirp” cookies with dried crickets I made. This made the experience that much more gratifying.
Moreover, this internship has shown me how important it is to increase access to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds to summer camps such as this one. This is especially true in a city that does not necessarily have large amounts of “wilderness” close by for kids to explore easily. If we want all children to grow up being environmental stewards in some capacity, then all children must have access to places that can teach them about the importance of being an environmentalist and that can offer an opportunity for artistic expression.
