Opportunities Galore!

Hello everyone from sunny San Diego! I am currently enjoying my winter off term in my hometown of San Diego, CA. This term has been a great break from the Dartmouth lifestyle and has really allowed me to get some great work experience as well as life experience. In terms of work, I was given the opportunity to intern with the Planning and Conservation League and helped to plan and organize their annual legislative symposium which occurs in Sacramento, CA every year. The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) is a major non-profit environmental organization in California as well as a significant lobbying power in the California State Legislature. Through this experience I not only learned a lot but also met some of the most influential people who are shaping the face of how California deals with the environment and the effects us humans have on it. Seeing as I am an Environmental Studies major, I was in HEAVEN.

I have also been interning for another firm, Crotty Consulting, Inc, which is a small governmental consulting firm in downtown San Diego. Chris, my boss essentially runs politicians campaigns from outreach to mailings to speeches. The main project we have been working on through my time there is the California Valley Solar Ranch, which is a proposed solar array “ranch” located in San Luis Obispo, CA. I have mostly been working on outreach to the public to get them behind the construction of the project.


But enough about work, I am sure no one really cares about that especially after reading about Annie’s adventures in Spain! So besides working, I have been traveling around California a lot. I have managed to see a lot of my close high school friends over the last 2 months. From Berkeley to UC San Diego to Cal Poly I have had a great time really exploring California. It is such an awesome thing that Dartmouth allows us to take this time off to work, explore and mature, but I still have a heck of a time trying to explain to people why I am not at school this quarter. People think I flunked out or something! Haha.

Besides traveling, the other fun part of my life is playing volleyball. I have been lucky enough to be able to practice weekly with my old club, Encinitas Wave. I practice with the 18-1s which is a BLAST and keeps me sharp on my game. Even though I will admit, I sometimes feel old playing with those 18 year olds. Since when am I almost a SENIOR in college?! Crazy! Anyway… it has been incredible playing with these girls, because I have really seen them grow up as players, from their freshman years in high school to now and I serve not only as a fellow player but also as a coach. On top of playing I have been training at a gym that is specifically for volleyball players. To put it bluntly I have been getting my butt kicked, which is good (when I can move again after the soreness recedes) because I am feeling strong and healthy and ready for spring season.


Last but not least, to continue with how amazing and wonderful Dartmouth is, I just found out that I received acceptance to the Environmental Studies Foreign Study Program to South Africa!!!! This is the same program that Katie mentioned in her entry, and I actually applied because of some encouragement I received from her. I am so incredibly excited to go and feel so blessed that Dartmouth has opened these kinds of doors for me. I am loving being home but I can’t wait to get back on campus this spring and see the team.

-Kelsey Johnson'11 (Carlsbad, CA)