What LINK is
Link internship was a unique experience offered by animas, that tasks a student with following thier passion through connection with a business, or the creation of a project with help from a mentor. The main thing that made link positive for me was the school ability to not only cater towards what I wanted to do and what I needed but their process of pushing me towards the best idea and helping me ween out ideas towards the best one. Requiring 90 hour worth of work that I originally viewed as an obstacle coming in as a senior I had to balance the 90s hours with my school work and senior project research. At first I struggled to even imagine myself being able to fit it all in, but through support of the school, and links adaptability, I was not only able to complete what I needed to graduate but also put a plan into action that needed motivation. My plan after highschool is to take the Ford Econoline, fully outfitted for living to California, up the west coast and into British Columbia for the winter where I plan to work at a ski resort with my two friends Sawyer and Sage. The only thing that stood in my way was getting the van built. Link gave me motivation to put my plan into action and I was given support through tools, space to work, and access to David Farkas's experience, a teacher at the school who has built multiple vans and often runs a van building class for Animas. Link gave me something set me up for my future, as well as teaching me various skills surely useful for later.
https://ahsinternships.weebly.com/
Link internship was a unique experience offered by animas, that tasks a student with following thier passion through connection with a business, or the creation of a project with help from a mentor. The main thing that made link positive for me was the school ability to not only cater towards what I wanted to do and what I needed but their process of pushing me towards the best idea and helping me ween out ideas towards the best one. Requiring 90 hour worth of work that I originally viewed as an obstacle coming in as a senior I had to balance the 90s hours with my school work and senior project research. At first I struggled to even imagine myself being able to fit it all in, but through support of the school, and links adaptability, I was not only able to complete what I needed to graduate but also put a plan into action that needed motivation. My plan after highschool is to take the Ford Econoline, fully outfitted for living to California, up the west coast and into British Columbia for the winter where I plan to work at a ski resort with my two friends Sawyer and Sage. The only thing that stood in my way was getting the van built. Link gave me motivation to put my plan into action and I was given support through tools, space to work, and access to David Farkas's experience, a teacher at the school who has built multiple vans and often runs a van building class for Animas. Link gave me something set me up for my future, as well as teaching me various skills surely useful for later.
https://ahsinternships.weebly.com/
Business Description
I did my internship in a non traditional form, being a second semester senior I needed to take care of my project without having to devote a uninterrupted three weeks towards working with a business so I instead worked with the school, using the newly opened maker lab, full of hand tools, saws, and all the required equipment for building a van. I got very lucky coming into animas right as they were moving to their new facility overlooking Durango from the top of the mesa that has long been home to fort lewis. My mentor was David Farkas, a teacher that has been at animas for many year, and has built a personal van as well as multiple vans for the school, in classes devoted to outfitting a van to live. Because of the schools ability to support me, my project was n ever far away and I got most of my work done as soon as I finished class or right after lunch because of the accessibility. Without this I may not have finished my internship so working with Animas was valuable.
Preparation and Anticipation
Spring Update: I had a very important meeting with Libby Cowles, Erin Cummins, and Marie that helped steer me towards the idea of the van where they asked me what I am interested in, what I am doing after I graduate, and what I needed to do alongside school anyway.
Winter Update: I am worried about my link internship because my plan to spend Christmas break working for Silverton mountain rescue didn't happen and I didn't have a good direction to go.
Fall Update: I am planning to work with Silverton mountain rescue to learn rope rescue skills, snow science, and backcountry safety, my connection is a personal friend Tyler George, director of operations.
Winter Update: I am worried about my link internship because my plan to spend Christmas break working for Silverton mountain rescue didn't happen and I didn't have a good direction to go.
Fall Update: I am planning to work with Silverton mountain rescue to learn rope rescue skills, snow science, and backcountry safety, my connection is a personal friend Tyler George, director of operations.
Reflection
LINK was a challenge for me, transferring to a new school and adjusting to the new system, the requirement of LINK flew right over my head at first. All of a sudden it was Christmas break, my original LINK plans had not been followed up on, and I had 90 hours worth of work remaining with no idea what to do. I continued to foolishly put LINK off until a month or so after semester had resumed when Erin, Libby, and Marie sat me down, and helped me come up with ideas as well as motivating me to get LINK done. After this meeting I connected with Dave Farkas and began to work on my van. Though working by myself to complete a van build was challenging I was able to get the floor insulated and covered in wood, I also was able to insulate the walls and sound insulate the entire van. Though the van is not entirely done, the work I did do set me up to follow my goals and something I viewed as an obstacle became a tool used to help me towards my goals. Now all that is left is to build a bed and kitchenette for living which I plan to take care of when I get out of school. Overall LINK was a challenge that pushing through taught me resilince and also how to balance my time effectively while also leaving me with an almost completely built van.
My project
I bought a 1996 Ford Econoline 250 E series and built it out to live with my two friends. I started by clearing the shelves and cleaning the back of the van out. I then put a floor in by cutting insulation to fit the form of the floor, then cutting identical wood panels to sit on top of the insulation. Once the floors were done I began on the walls, measuring and cutting panels for each wall. Then I cut more insulation for behind the walls, after staining the walls they were put in. With a captains chair on the way and designs for beds, storage, and a kitchenette, the van remains uncomplete, but after 90 hours of work I have a solid insulated room to build into a livable area.
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