My First Day

I’m happy to say that I made it through the first week of my internship, and had a great first day. The first day of my internship at Gettysburg National Military Park was on Tuesday, May 31^st, and I scheduled my move in date for the day before, Memorial Day.  I finished packing up my things that morning and drove with my parents to Gettysburg to move into park housing. We made good time on the drive, however, the slowest part of the trip was certainly when we hit the center of town – traffic was heavy and roads were being closed in preparation for the town’s Memorial Day parade and it was a small miracle that we got through the town in time! Soon after we made it to Gettysburg’s ranger station, where I met Ranger Ludwick and was given my house keys. From the Ranger Station we followed Ranger Ludwick to the place that I would be staying for the summer, Spangler House.

On our way to park housing!

Spangler House, my home for the Summer

                We unloaded the car and moved my bags into my new bedroom, but my day wasn’t over yet – With the town parade about to start, Ranger Ludwick told me he could use my help, and I put on my uniform and drove out with him to the National Soldiers Cemetery, where I helped with traffic from the parade, allowing vehicles with permits into the cemetery, and directing those without to continue on down the road. After the parade ended, I followed Ranger Holler and watched over the memorial ceremony inside the National Soldiers Cemetery. After the memorialization ended, I opted to finish the evening with a ride along with Ranger Ludwick and I got to see major spots on the battlefield and even helped lock up the National Soldiers Cemetery at dusk. I learned a great deal on my first day here, but more than that, I got really excited for the weeks to come. I unpacked my things later that night and got ready for my first day as a Proranger Intern. It was a busy day but I was happy that I got to jump right into my internship!