A day in my life as a BAB intern in Los Angeles!

It’s 12:30 pm on Sunday, July 13th as Fernando (a fellow intern) and I drive laps around Echo Park, Los Angeles, desperately trying to find parking in the packed streets around the 44th Annual Lotus Festival. As we spend the next hour doing so, let me fill you in on how we got here…

This morning I was up by 8:30 to work on some homework for my online microeconomics class — I’m originally from Sacramento, CA, and I am now a fourth year college student at Johns Hopkins University studying Environmental Science and English. I am hoping to get some extra course credits before my last year! After making a decent dent in my work, I prepped my materials for the survey day ahead! Starting by setting up a new honorarium log where we track surveys, I attached it to my clipboard and packed it in my backpack along with the day’s honorariums — neatly sealed into individual envelopes to give to people who complete our survey — pens, survey stickers, posters, pamphlets, and my trusty Fanny pack. Having all my stuff ready to go, I put my bag in the back of my car where my portable chair, table, canopy, and posters reside for when we go out to do surveys. At 11:30 my equipment and I were on the road to pick up Fernando and head to the event.

Finally when an hour of searching brought us to a singular open parking spot a half mile away from the event, we hitched our tables and chairs on our shoulders and made it into the festival. 

Not knowing what to expect, I was excitedly shocked to find the expansive park full of attendees bustling through the sidewalks checking out performances, food trucks, and booths all around the lake. A dragon boat race had just ended as we chose a spot in front of the food area to set up our portable tables and posters.

Before we could even finish unpacking, two guys holding puppies came up to the table to ask about what we were doing. As they took the survey we held their sleeping pups and finished setup, attracting even more viewers walking by. The final piece went into place once Fernando opened his brand new inflatable shark costume and suited up with a sign offering honorariums for taking an ocean survey. Instantaneously, our booth was swarmed by curious passerbys, ranging from couples to full on families, all eager to contribute to the survey as they perused the park. 

In an adrenaline-packed state, I welcomed person after person to the table and informed them about who we were and the work we were doing. In less than an hour we had already surveyed 30 people, which is beyond our daily goal! Around 3 pm we decided to disassemble our booth and conduct surveys by foot. Having already run out of half our honorariums, Fernando and I trekked back to the car to leave our setup supplies and quickly get more honorariums. Returning with only the shark costume, fanny packs, and clipboards in hand, we resumed the organized chaos at our previous spot. Moving from our original location, it was humorous and heartwarming to see a little trail of people and their surveys following our shark costume and signs to the edge of the park. 

The rest of the day went smoothly as we used up all our honorariums and interacted with some great people. One group of guys in their 20s showed me videos of dolphins they had seen across the coast in South Carolina, and told me that parts of the survey had made them emotional. Another young girl returned with her mom’s completed survey and asked for a picture with me to show her friends. We ended the day with one last survey of a festival worker, and Fernando had a good-humored conversation with a security personnel we had met earlier. Wrapping the day at 8:30 pm, it was a long but fulfilling time! 

While some survey days are clearly not quite as straightforward, the excitement and new activity that each one brings continues to make every location and survey an adventure of its own. The best reward for our work is seeing the reflected interest and engagement of the people we survey!