My name is Louise Ba and I am a senior at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I am from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but my family is originally from Senegal. As a Political Science, Economics, and Public Policy major, it is not easy for me to find ways to connect nature and the outdoors into my career, but I’ve learned to integrate it into my lifestyle. To do this, I joined the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa (CCM) the summers of my sophomore and junior years of high school and learned valuable life lessons. The fourth, which is the story of this piece, is about LNT, or leaving no trace.

LNT means monitoring the health of natural species, and invasive species and how to take care of them, picking up after myself in these spaces. North Commons Community Park is a short way away from my home, close to a 5-minute walk, and has cemented its way into my understanding of how to love natural spaces and the urban environment. My family has been going there for a long time, and it has been a place for peace and calm despite the busyness of the city. When I couldn’t go back to CCM because of the pandemic, I learned to appreciate the green spaces that were easily accessible to me, and the lessons that they taught me. 

Lesson 1: Nurturing the connection I have with strangers.
On walks with my dog, I’d meet other dog owners and have sweet conversations with them. 

Lesson 2: Nurturing the connections I have with family outside of the technological world.
My family would often go to North Commons together, and play at the playground, or sit on our favorite bench, overlooking the entire park.

Lesson 3: Nurturing the connection I have with the outdoors and nature.
Breathing the fresh air and being at peace with the natural world made me feel like I had a pocket of CCM close by. 

Lesson 4: LNT
To honor the natural space, I’d take every opportunity to pick up trash and other items that didn’t belong to leave the space better than I found it. Or, to leave no trace of my existence. 

I will keep these lessons with me as I move forward into the world, to find ways to have peace and happiness. Each lesson teaches me to think of the natural world as a companion I treat with respect and care. That is why I chose the photo that I did, it represents the amalgamation of all the lessons I have learned, and how peacefully I am able to coexist with nature because of it. I am so grateful to Upstream, to CCM, and to these natural spaces for teaching me so much.

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