Throughout my week in Olympic National Park in Washington State during the Partners in the Park program, I was constantly bombarded with ethereal scenery and breathtaking panoramas. The Park offered every landscape and terrain a person could desire.  From exploring the coastline of the Pacific Ocean, to hiking through the lush, moss covered Hoh Rainforest, to watching the sun silently set on the Olympic mountain chain, the opportunities and sights were endless. As incredible as the sights were, they were not the most memorable aspect of the trip. The other students from schools all over the United States made the week what it was.

“How do you catch a bat?”  “In a mist net.”  “What’s a mist net?”

Native Americans, Mormons, insects, tourists, animals, and, yes, bats have gathered around Pipe Spring in Utah throughout its existence.  Currently, the preserved Mormon settlement around the spring has been designated as a national monument and serves as a tourist attraction.  Whether it was Benn the Paiute Native American turned Park Ranger’s traditional Memorial Day performance that stopped tourists in their tracks or the continuum of stars that shone around the monument’s small body of water after the visitor center had closed and our student group returned at nightfall to catch bats, this was a poignant place.

Since I was young I’ve always had a love for the outdoors, but I never dreamt that I would get the chance to explore the Grand Canyon. Even after I applied and got accepted to the Partners in the Parks program I wasn’t sure which park I would go to. In the end I decided to try something completely new, and with the help of the honors program I was able to venture to the other side of the country, and go west of New York for the first time in my life.

Zion National Park is one of the few remaining nationally preserved and protected natural environments left in the United States.  Through the years the government has poured money into the national parks to keep them almost identical to the states they were found.  This past May, I and several other honors students from across the nation embarked on a fantastic adventure through the park and gained insight into its history and current maintenance.