Hello Everyone!
My name is Macki Mei. I’m the new Youth Communications Assistant here at Save the Harbor! With my first blog, I wanted to introduce myself and what you can look forward to seeing from me over the next few months. To start off, I’m currently a junior in high school at Josiah Quincy Upper School. I’ve lived in the neighborhood of Dorchester almost my entire life. In my free time, I enjoy going on walks and exploring new places which is why I chose to work at Save the Harbor this summer! Last year when I was looking for a summer job, I knew that I wanted it to align with some key interests of mine. These interests include biology, marine life, and the environment.
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Leah, Kayla and I (right) on a field trip this summer!
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Once I learned more about Save the Harbor’s mission and impact, I knew that this summer job was a perfect opportunity for me to grow my interests as well as my knowledge of the environment around me. After reading the value statement and publications of Save the Harbor, it motivated me to get involved with the organization through the summer job program. Going into the summer, I was looking forward to being out in nature and exploring new places in and around Boston. One of the main aspects about this summer job that stood out to me was that I was going to get hands-on experience. We’re not learning about the environment and the Boston Harbor through articles like we typically do in classes. We’re learning about Boston Harbor and the environment first hand, through exploring the Boston Harbor Islands, asking questions directly to the staff at those islands, and seeing it for ourselves. We were walking and exploring the same place that we learned was once a landfill on Spectacle Island, and got to see how much the island has evolved through efforts made by Boston residents and the City of Boston. After many years since Spectacle Island reopened to the public in 2006, we saw how it has been well-maintained. Seeing how the island was conserved inspired me to share the history of the island to its visitors through the All Access program with Save the Harbor.
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| Sea glass from the shores of Spectacle Island! |
As a current junior in high school, I’m always looking for opportunities in which I can grow and prepare myself for the future. Working at Save the Harbor this summer was a perfect opportunity for me to learn if marine biology or biology in general was a possible career path for me. It was a perfect introduction to learn about the Boston Harbor and the environment through first hand experience. It was impactful to me to hear from professionals in their respective fields, and see if those careers were suitable for me. Being part of the Save the Harbor team this summer was one of my favorite experiences, I loved everyone I met working there and it felt like one big family.
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| My team at Camp Harbor View |
The last topic I want to mention is my role as Save the Harbor’s new Youth Communications Assistant! After the great experience I had during the summer with Save the Harbor, I discussed school year opportunities with the full time staff there about opportunities during the school year. I mentioned my idea of wanting to contribute to Save the Harbor’s blog and write for it, and through talking to Chris and Kristen I was given the opportunity to write for the blog! The topics I will be writing about involve Save the Harbor as an organization and topics that involve the mission of Save the Harbor. You can look forward to reading blogs about climate change, climate resiliency, harbor ecology, and Boston Harbor marine life.
Thank you for reading my introductory blog, and please look forward to the new blogs I will be publishing!
-Macki
