‘There will be time for college and careers’
Christina Vallin will turn her attention to college after her nine-month internship.
“I’m so excited. I got an internship with AmeriCorps, and I leave in January for California. I’m going to be working with a crew called ACE, which stands for American Conservation Experience. We’ll be going to different public lands, like national forests, wildlife refuges and parks, to work on environmental and conservation projects. We’ll be spending all our time outdoors, which is exactly what I want to do right now.
“I feel like me dropping out of high school was the perfect way to fall into this opportunity. My mom has been really supportive. She wasn’t worried about me at all. I’ve always had that kind of relationship with her. She’s just trusted me from the beginning, with everything, which led to me making a few bad decisions but, you know, that brought me here.
“That’s kind of what I wanted to tell everyone in high school. It’s not about hurry up and go to college because you need to find out who you are right now. It’s more about finding different parts of yourself along the way and enjoying all of it. There will be time for college and careers. Right now, at least for me, it’s about meeting people and finding out what I can create with them and what I can learn, and just indulging in all of it.”
— Christina Vallin
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