{"id":1866,"date":"2025-09-17T12:58:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T19:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/?p=1866"},"modified":"2025-09-17T12:58:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T19:58:06","slug":"osu-extension-intern-focuses-on-growing-in-more-ways-than-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/2025\/09\/17\/osu-extension-intern-focuses-on-growing-in-more-ways-than-one\/","title":{"rendered":"OSU Extension intern focuses on growing- in more ways than one"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Rachel and I\u2019m an intern at Oregon State University Extension Service in Hood River
\nCounty. I have been working in partnership with the Master Gardener volunteers at the FISH Food
\nBank Garden. The mission of the garden is to grow produce for the food bank and provide garden
\neducation to the community. The garden is a place for people to visit, volunteer and connect with
\nothers.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"\n
Rachel Fuller smiles for the camera in the FISH Garden. Photo: Yvonne (a FISH Food Bank volunteer)<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

My position in the garden was that of a garden manager. I found it enjoyable working with
\nthe plants and soils as well as background systems and structures. I have years of experience in
\nvegetable farming and brought new ideas with a production mindset into the garden. This was a
\nfun challenge stepping into the gardening world and learning how to interact with vegetable
\nproduction in a more lowkey environment where community is really one of the main
\ncomponents.<\/p>\n

I have not fully comprehended the extent of this internship\u2019s value. There were so many
\nthings that I got to do and take part in including public speaking, infographics, creating systems,
\nbuilding relationships and developing better intergenerational communication skills, working
\nwith youth, grant writing knowledge, volunteer management, garden management and more.
\nWhen I went back to school, I had my eyes and heart set on the NRCS. That dream was derailed
\nthis winter and since then I have been reassessing what I value in a future career. I went back to
\nschool with the core mission to help rural farmers and communities.<\/p>\n

Through the grant writing courses and discussions with a mentor I have seen the value in
\nthose skills and the foundations that fund farmers and rural community projects. While I still have
\ninterest in working in soil conservation, my interest is peaked and I wonder if a career working for
\nan organization or foundation that focuses on funding rural communities. While I love being
\noutside and working with plants and soils, I do think that my experience here has shown me that
\nI could take my career in many different directions. I have become increasingly more confident in
\nmy right to guide my own days. I have invested my time in the things that benefit me and benefit
\nthe garden. I have also become more confident in knowing what workload is manageable for me
\nand when to say no to extra tasks and projects while still finding a way to delegate the tasks so
\nthat they get done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Rachel and I\u2019m an intern at Oregon State University Extension Service in Hood River County. I have been working in partnership with the Master Gardener volunteers at the FISH Food Bank Garden. The mission of the garden is to grow produce for the food bank and provide garden education to the community. The… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14884,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,103,38],"tags":[302],"class_list":["post-1866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ag-and-natural-resources","category-hood-river-county","category-master-gardener","tag-rachel-fuller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14884"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1866"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1870,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866\/revisions\/1870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}