Springing into Environmental Activism - Tanya

Our Spring 2018 graduate interns are bringing their internships and semesters to a close! Marissa and Tanya have been with us since January, jumping straight into legislative session and hitting the ground running. The staff is incredibly grateful for all of their hard work and wish them the best of luck in their next endeavors!

Hear from Tanya on her experience with us below. To read about Marissa’s experience, click here. Sierra Club Hawai‘i was my first internship as a graduate student and I could not have asked for a better experience. The office environment was uplifting, and I immediately felt welcome as an important part of the Sierra Club team. Even on more difficult days, everybody stayed positive and had a great sense of humor. There is a real desire to create lasting and positive change, and I am so empowered and inspired by everybody on staff! Being new to the islands, Sierra Club gave me the opportunity not only to learn more about some of the environmental and social issues that we are faced with, but also helped me find my voice to take action. I came into the 2018 legislative session barely remembering how a bill becomes a law (mostly thanks to School House Rock), and walked away with a much better understanding of policy making. Now, I can closely track and understand legislation, write and give oral testimony, and participate actively in state politics. Meeting legislators and going to hearings was eye-opening, and I’m glad that I got to have better insight into the process. I ended up really enjoying my time running around the Capitol, having random meetings with senators and representatives, and feeling like I was actually doing my part to make a change. My time at Sierra Club was spent doing a variety of different things, and I feel that I have grown both personally and professionally. I honed some skills I already had, such as writing blog posts, bookkeeping and organizing data on spreadsheets. I also got to learn a lot by planning events, including for Pau Hana and HPU’s Earth Day, tabling and spending time at the Capitol. I also learned more about what I like and don’t like, which is definitely a step in the right direction. To me, the most valuable takeaway from my internship here was the connections I made. I got to meet and work with some of the most dedicated and passionate individuals out there, and it has been amazing to see what people at the grassroots level are doing to make the world a better place. Overall, this experience has helped shape me into a better and more activated person. I have discovered passions I didn’t know I had, and I am excited to see what the future brings. I am sad to leave my spot as Intern, but I know that I will stay on as a member of the Sierra Club Hawai’i family, working to make the islands a better place to live.If you are inspired and interested in interning with us, please send your resume and cover letter to hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org