As my time at Manzanar comes to a close, I can reflect back to an extraordinary experience. I have lived in one of the most amazing places on earth, the Owens Valley of California.
Every morning the soaring snow crowned granite spires of the stunning Sierra Nevadas greeted me with their colossal beauty. Nature's enormous power personified in the extreme heat, cold, and unrelenting wind reminded me of my human frailties.
The fleeting remains of past occupants from Paiute pictographs to ghost towns and abandoned mines were there at my fingertips for me to explore.
With my twenty seven year old fingers I touched a tree that was old before the ancient pyramids were built. Despite these unforgettable experiences, what I will remember most is not what I did on my days off, but what I did at work. 
I have worked with an outstanding group of people truly committed to their job. Working with them has not only increased my respect and admiration, but indeed personal commitment to the NPS.
Most importantly, however, I have helped tell a powerful, tragic, and uniquely American story. It is an emotional story, but one that became more personal from meeting the people that were the main characters, enabling me to talk, connect and perhaps better comprehend. It made me better at my job. 
In my brief stay I hoped that I served at a conduit for people to make a connection with not only a story, but a place. I hope that I was able to create an understanding that this story is not over and everyone in this country is a part of it. I hope I accomplished those things, but I don't know if I did. At the very least I think people left with a little more knowledge and maybe a little more respect. And hey, that's a start. Because if I have learned anything in life, its that we are all in this together. Farewell, Manzanar.
(visit www.nps.gov/manz)
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