Has anyone been a part of SCA and done an internship?

Question

I am thinkging of doing an internship has anyone ever been a part of SCA, what was your experince like? Where did you go? what did you do? etc...
Thank you!

WOW thanks for the great info!

Answer 1

Yes, I have been an SCA volunteer - twice (two summers!)

I really enjoyed my experiences and they were great jumping off points for other avenues in my professional career.

My first SCA thing was between soph/junior year of College and the second was a year after finishing school. The first internship was in the Mt. Hood National forest in Oregon and the second was the Tongass national forest in Juneau, AK. Both times I was what is called an "interpretive naturalist" which is a fancy way of saying that I worked at a visitor's center. Both places were big tourist draws and had historical and ecological interest so I was able to draw on my specific skills working well with large crowds and also with children. Both were tremendous learning experiences for me. In Oregon I gave tours of a historic lodge and led nature walks and campfire programs. I also learned to drive a stick shift, did tons of hiking and got tapped (because of my acting) to participate in this Oregon Trail Living History group (historical reenactments) which sounds soooo cheesy but was actually fascinating. At that location there were only a few SCA "volunteers" (I think there were 2 - they started with 3 but one flaked after a week) as well as a volunteer who had applied directly to the Forest service (not through SCA) and one permanent employee, two seasonal employees and many local volunteers.

In AK, I was more experienced and the structure was a little different. It was less fun (more older tourists who just want to take a picture and not ask in depth questions) but in some ways I was given more autonomy and I was able to put together some children's programming and a couple of campfire programs on my own that I was really proud of. It was a great place to try out new things and I've put alot of what I learned into a career as a creative enviromental/science educator. Plus it was stunningly beautiful. That place other than 2 permanent staff everyone was SCA, I think, and they had two different shifts of people (may-july and Late june-aug.) (it's the kind of place that's closed in the winter and slammed in the summer.) Several of my teammates were a little older, had worked there previous summers and were using the volunteer opportunities to try to get a permanent position with the USFS.

Anyway - SCA has so many different opportunities and options and is a really great way to try out something and see if you like it. The main thing to know is that SCA is really sort of not exactly it's own thing - it's more of an agency that takes your application, screens it and then sorts it to the places it matches you with. In a way it's more like a temp agency than anything - they cut your checks, but you report directly to your onsite people. So you should not count on SCA to back you up or take anything they say too seriously. If they are still limiting you to three places to be interested in, you can send your application directly to a few others if you are really interested. Also make sure to get your application in EARLY (seriously - last minute they'll try to send you somewhere awful like the statue of liberty) and double and triple check all your references to make sure they actually sent in their materials. oh, and don't put down somewhere you don't really want as a "safety" choice because it's really not as hard to get a good position as they make it sound, and you will most likely wind up at the bummer choice if you say you're interested.

If you are interested in the kind of work I was doing, try to steer clear of the huge tourist draws (ie; yosemite, Denali, Mt. St. Helens) because the volunteers there always looked overwhelmed and miserable. But SCA also has listings for really interesting research positions like bird surveying. If you are applying for the trail maintanance positions you should be in great shape and an experienced backpacker because they will send you out into the field with 50lb packs for 4 nights at a time.

I thought my experience was really great (enough to do it twice) and the nice thing about SCA is that in a way it's better than getting a "job" for the summer, because since they will arrange for your housing and pay for your transportation and a living stipend, you pay almost nothing out of pocket and both summers I actually came out ahead because my expenditures were almost nil. If you are picky about housing ask questions of your site person ahead of time because it runs the gamut - in Juneau we got put up in cute apartments (2 to a room, single sex) but in Oregon I had a "cubby" in a horrible house with awful roommates and then I got switched to a dorm-like situation with maybe 7 girls in one room in bunk beds. Some of the volunteers on other sites were put in trailers. In terms of transportation, in Oregon I was driven to/from work in the carpool van with the rest of the team, but in Alaska they handed me a second-hand bicycle and told me how to get there (3 miles away.)

you'll usually get 2 (or more) days off a week so if you are somewhere interesting you can tour around and really see something of the world. Plus your fellow volunteers usually share your interests and you can make good friends. Most volunteers are early 20s (20-24, with a few older.) But you can be any age (the woman who flaked in Oregon was in her 40s, I think she just was in over her head.)

so I say go for it! good luck (and get your app in on time! :-)

Answer 2

A lot of people think "SCA" means Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a society for people who like to re-create the middle ages for a hobby.

As far as an internship in the Student Conservation Association, I have had some experience with other people who were in it. I am a volunteer co-ordinator for a local habitat conservation group here in the Sacramento area.

All the people I have met who were associated with the Student Conservation Association were very well informed and were a big help to us. They are dedicated (as are all our volunteers), and also had the kind of training we need to accomplish our goals.

You could probably find people to help you at thesca.org blog. I have provided a link below.