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First of all, my name is Marisol Gonzalez, which is phoenetically Spanish for "sea and sun." I'm currently a UC Davis student, but before I left the bay area I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with many areas of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and its partner organization, the conservancy (GGNPC).

It started in Spring 2008 when I came across an application for the paid internship summer program, LINC. I later found out it stood for "Linking Individuals to the Natural Community" and it most certainly did that, and much more. In LINC, sixteen high school students, including myself, went all over the bay area learning about the different aspects of the park through service projects:

We removed invasive French broom at Tennessee Valley, and Monterey pine at Milagra Ridge.
We even helped restore some of the historical parts of the park like Battery Townsley, where we battled against rust and graffiti.
We also had the opportunity to restore habitat at Mori Point, which is one of the few remaining places where the San Francisco Garter Snake (the most endangered reptile in the United States) is found.

We constantly participated in team building activities and learned skills like orienteering. At the end of the six weeks we all had help making our own resume. Best of all is that we all became friends.

Those of us who had the time also continued going to the parks on the drop-in volunteer days throughout the school year, and many of us became LINC alumni interns the next summer at other parts of the parks.

Two of my fellow '08 LINCers and I were placed at Land's End Site Stewardship for the Summer of '09. There we gained in-depth and intimate knowledge about the land and its native species, my favorite of which is Indian paintbrush. We also became familiar with how Site Stewardship works, and looked forward to every day working with our boss and the year-interns.

I like to think that my experience with LINC and the parks has shaped me into a better person, one who can work with others and can use her resources to make a positive difference in the world, particularly in the enviroment.

LINC most definitely has affected my career aspirations: I am currently majoring in "Conservation Biology," so that one day I can go wherever nature's calling takes me, and help create the change I want to see.

In the meantime, I'll settle for drop-in volunteering during my breaks from school! That's my plan, but how will you contribute?

This My Earth/My Part page is so that you can help such programs as LINC and Site Stewardship, programs that directly help prepare the next generation take control of the reins for the future. Together I know we can make anything possible.