ProRanger Intern

   Hello bloggers, my name is Daviryne Hall, and I am a junior at Temple University. I major in Criminal Justice, minor in Sociology and plan on graduating from Temple with a certificate in National Park Service Management, and another in Spanish. I am originally from Washington, DC but I currently reside in Philadelphia year-round, because I am a Supervisor at Payless Shoe source in North Philly.

   I became informed about the ProRanger Program last summer by a friend who also attends Temple. Immediately I took interest in the program, reviewed the ProRanger website, and scheduled a meeting with Mr. Don Sweet. During the meeting, Don informed me about the Program in further detail and quickly I knew this was an opportunity of a lifetime. I was so attracted to the law enforcement and job security aspects of the program. I went through the application process and was selected for an interview.

   A few weeks later I was notified that I had passed the interview and I would be interning at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. I was delighted with my assigned park because I love to travel and I have never been to Ohio. I completed some research on CUVA (Cuyahoga Valley) and found out that CUVA was a great place to work and it was originally a National Recreation Area before it became a National Park.

   Lately, I have been steadily maintaining a relationship with Don Sweet and Kim Coast, my Philadelphia ProRanger managers, and establishing communication with Christopher Ryan my CUVA supervisor and Justin Pugh my CUVA mentor. We are constantly discussing the events that I will be included in this summer. All of these people have been helping me transition into the National Park Service.  I plan on learning more about the management of the National Parks, how to help preserve the park, and last but not least how to secure and enforce the safety of the visitors this summer. The location of CUVA is ideal for me because it is located between Akron and Cleveland; I also find the wild life in this National Park to be quite interesting. I cannot wait until my internship begins.