By now I have been leading my summer crew for a little over a month, and for the most part it has been a positive experience. We started out with 5 days of orientation in Reno and then we've been working on a project in Ely, NV, for two 8-day tours so far. Orientation was slightly hectic because for the first few days while our new members were doing AmeriCorps orientation, wilderness first aid training, and the classroom portion of the chainsaw training, the crew leaders and supervisors were sent to the office with our returning members to get our gear and tools organized. That whole process was frustrating and overwhelming because the garage with all of the tools and things in it was very unorganized and we weren't given as much information as we needed from the office staff so we had to keep asking questions about what needed to be done and where things were while at the same time trying to make sure our members had things to do and weren't just standing around. It made me realize how unorganized certain aspects of the organization are in general and made me wish they had allowed us to do all of the sorting out of gear that needed to happen before summer season started. It was a lot of work that our members should not have had to worry about and would have made our lives so much easier to already have it done. And if we had it done already we could have been present for the classroom training which would have made it easier for me to know what they had been taught already and what things I had to make sure to cover once we got out into the field and started using the chainsaws. The field training days for the second half of the week were much more fun for me because I actually got to teach my members for the first time and observe them and give feedback. Everyone picked things up well and I was pleased with their progress even though we only had a few days. The week of orientation was also a rewarding week for me because it solidified in my mind that I really do have what it takes to be a leader and effectively get across my knowledge about chainsaw operation to teach other people. I also realized that through this process of crew lead training and leading a crew, I am much less hesitant to speak in front of groups. During orientation I had to be talking and giving instructions and feedback most of the time, and I probably talked more in that one week than I have in any other week-long period in my life. But I didn't get sick of hearing myself talk like I sometimes do when I have to talk a lot, instead it made me more confident in my ability to give directions.
Since orientation my crew of 5 (myself, Rich, Eric, Bekah and Taniel) and the other crew we are working with for the summer (crew leader James, Morgan, Ryan, Jake and Pat) have worked on a sage grouse habitat restoration project cutting juniper trees out in Ely, NV, which is about 6 hours away. That means that we have to drive to Ely on Monday mornings at the start of the week and only get about an hour of work done, and then the following Monday we have to drive back, and again only get about an hour to work, but even so we have gotten a lot done both weeks. The first week everyone was still getting the hang of the chainsaw so James and I didn't saw very much, we mostly walked around and watched people and gave feedback to help them improve. We had a lot of issues with people taking a long time to sharpen their chains and having to sharpen too often, but by the second week that had improved a lot. The second week our crews had improved so much that we got about twice the amount of area cut, which was awesome! James and I did much more cutting ourselves that week because we felt we didn't need to monitor people as much. At the end of the second week, we had finished the main area of cutting that the project partner wanted us to do so we moved on to doing quality control on an adjacent area that had been cut previously, so we had to go through and look for small saplings that were missed or stumps that had resprouted. This was nowhere near as glamorous of a task so our members weren't as into it and weren't doing as good a job at first as James and I wanted, so that created a negative work environment because morale was low and James and I were getting frustrated with having to say the same things over and over again and feeling like people weren't taking the work as seriously as we were. So those two days were not very fun ones for anyone, but after that we had discussions about how to keep people motivated and I realized just how important my attitude is and how it can affect my members so much, so the last day was much better because we worked on keeping people motivated and I made sure I was much more positive. So overall the second week of the project was not as fun as the first, but I learned a lot and I have a better idea about how I need to proceed in the future with situations like that.
Then this week, I got some surprising news that one of my members quit. I had no idea she was thinking about it and I only found out when one of the office staff called me and left me a message about it. I immediately started worrying that it was something I did or maybe she had been much more unhappy about the past week than I had realized, but I was able to talk to her today and she told me it was for personal reasons because she felt like she had a lot to do at home that she wasn't able to get done being away 8 days at a time. So I can understand why, it's just unfortunate and I wish she had told me first. Now I don't know if I will get another member or if we will continue as a 4-person crew for the rest of the summer.
On a more happy note, I finally got to go to Yosemite this week, which is something I've wanted to do since I first moved to Vegas. It's only about 3 hours from Reno so it worked out well that I waited until I was here to go. It was so beautiful there, and one of the days we did a 15 mile roundtrip hike in 1 day. It was exhausting but awesome. I will have some pictures from the trip to include, but my computer is so slow that I'm going to wait until I can go to the library and upload them there.
Also, since this is my first post since moving to Reno, I figured I should give you all my impression of the city so far. As soon as I moved here I liked it way better than Vegas. It's smaller, which right there is a plus for me, and there's much more of a community feel, at least downtown where I live. I enjoy that I live so close to many things that I can walk to, since in Vegas the neighborhood I lived in wasn't that nice and I never really wanted to walk anywhere except CVS right down the road. Here I can walk to almost everything I need, including an awesome food co-op that I fell in love with as soon I walked in. I love being able to buy more local and organic food, and I never really had that option in Vegas. I enjoy walking around exploring the downtown area, and there are way more cool local restaurants that I've tried and want to try (I've already gone out to eat more than I did the entire time I was in Las Vegas lol). There are still casinos and hotels when I'm in the mood for those too, which is nice. And I live right down the street from a baseball stadium so I went to a game one of the first days I was here. Overall, I really enjoy Reno!
I can't believe that a third of the summer season is already over. The time is flying and I know it will be over before I know it. I'm doing my best to enjoy every moment that I'm out here and make the most of it because I know that I will miss Nevada when I leave. I will do my best to post again soon but given my track record recently it might be several weeks.
