by Bailey Farris | Intern, Summer 2017
Hello, I’m Bailey! I’ve signed myself up for a summer of wise lessons and wonderful times from the amazing Laura Bahl, Seacoast Science Center’s Volunteer Coordinator. It’s been such a treat being here at the Center and I wanted to share a bit of the exciting (and occasionally funny) things that I’ve encountered or had the opportunity to do here so far.
I think that everyone remembers a time when they went somewhere new, and it probably involved a lot of loud exclamations of excitement. This was the case of one little kid playing around in the tide pools one afternoon. As I was sitting in Laura’s office typing away, I could hear all the kids running around at camp outside, even all the way down the shore as they were. Suddenly, above everyone else’s voices, one kid hollers out, “GUYS! There’s live animals in here!” and boy did that make me laugh. He proceeded to go on about some periwinkles with some of his group buddies.
While I’m no stranger to the coastline, I feel the same excitement that camper did when I encounter people and on-goings here at the Center. On World Ocean’s Day, I had a little boy, about 4 years old, teach me about fish anatomy. Setting up for Sippin’ for Seals, I got to talk with Bill about theater, stage managing, and light design. Pointing out a submarine being escorted out of the harbor, one guest came up to me a half hour later and thanked me for sharing, then engaged me for another twenty minutes in a great conversation about marine transportation. During our first concert, I got to be part of an ice bucket fire brigade, juggle garbage cans, and navigate the crowd filling jobs with volunteers.
Getting to know the visitors, volunteers, interns, and staff has been so much fun. I’m glad I chose to look into the Seacoast Science Center. It’s not just the location and the view, or the marine-based education relevant to my studies, but it really is the people. A chance to work alongside the volunteers and help such a large program’s operations was really what drove me to where I am sitting right now (aka, Laura’s office).
There are of course other things included in adventures for Laura, usually involving a lot of creative thinking. I’ve had the opportunity to research up and coming policy issues for non-profits, kick off a blog for Park Tours, and organize new materials for interns. Each day though I look forward to our next volunteer opportunity, saying hello to those I’ve already had the chance to meet, and meeting new faces!
