Today is my final day as the Communications and Operations Intern for the Colorado Foundation for Water Education. Am I ready to leave? Not really—I want to stay forever. In the past when I got to the point of leaving a job, I really wanted to leave, so this is a new experience for me. Is it time for me to leave? Absolutely.

Is it time for me to leave? Absolutely.

Not only am I graduating with my second bachelor’s degree on Friday, but I’ve also landed a fantastic full-time position as the Engagement Coordinator for the University Advancement/Alumni Relations Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver (Go Roadrunners!)! It is definitely time for me to settle into a non-school centric routine and allow another student to take advantage of the opportunities that I have had while working with the amazing women of CFWE.

I have learned so many things since I began working with CFWE last October—some about water, some about life. The blog posts that I have written during my time here reflect what I’ve learned about water, so for the purposes of this post, I’ll focus on the other lessons I learned during my time at CFWE.

One of the biggest lessons was learning how to ride the bus. Laugh if you will, I’d never ridden the bus; my use of public transportation was limited to the lightrail. I know that it isn’t that difficult (now), but it felt intimidating none the less. Now, I can cross that off my “to do” list!

Photo Credit: Nick Daws

I also learned that track changes can be a good thing. I spent many years being fearful of edits. Writing, even when informational or academic, is deeply personal. Something inside says that if you don’t like my writing, there must be something wrong with me. When a professor used to hand back a graded paper, I would look at the grade and quickly put it away, never exploring the possibility for improvement. This position forced me to face that fear and embrace a page full of red slashes and suggestions. With every acceptance of an insert or deletion, I better understood what I could do to make my writing stronger. I finally realized that, even when track changes make something look bad, it probably isn’t really that bad—like a lot of things in life.

Most importantly, I learned that the nonprofit/public sector is where I want to be—it gives me a feeling of purpose when the work I am doing is impacting someone or something in a positive way.

Photo Credit: Sean MacEntee

So now, I pass the proverbial baton on to the next intern: You’ll cut your hands stuffing envelopes, stare at a screen filled with edits from Caitlin and suffer from writer’s block. In return, you will have the opportunity to speak with experts in the water field, write about topics that you are passionate about, learn things about water that you don’t yet know, publish your writing and support/be supported by a staff that cares about the future of Colorado’s water. I hope that you appreciate and enjoy the opportunity because it will be over before you know it!

Photo Credit: CedricTheCat

Finally, I want to say “thank you” to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog posts and to those who took time out of their busy schedules to allow me to interview them so that I could write those posts. Writing them has been a fantastic experience. I have had the pleasure to speak with people in the water industry across the state of Colorado, to learn about topics that I knew virtually nothing about and to see how much hard work is being done to inform and educate the public about Colorado water.

I am eternally thankful to Jennie, Jayla, Stephanie and Caitlin for hiring me, for training me and for all of the time that was spent reading and editing my writing. I am so grateful that I got to be a part of your team! I am certain that I would not be where I am in my professional and personal life without your guidance and without this experience.

I am confident that, together, we will create a bright future for Colorado water!

Best,

Lynne Winter

P.S. Future Intern: Don’t try to fold more than two pieces of paper in the letter folder—I promise you’ll regret it.