Meet The Intern: Lily Engro, Program Intern!

In an effort to introduce the Venture Outdoors crew that works inside to get you outside, we have a new regular series on the Venture Outdoors Blog that spotlights our interns!
This week we’ll be interviewing Lily Engro, one of our Program Interns.

1. What are you currently up to outside of Venture Outdoors?
   With my internship here, I’ll complete my bachelor’s degree in Sport and Recreation Administration from Edinboro University and graduate in May. I also just started working at the PNC YMCA where I lifeguard and teach swim lessons. Other than that, most of the time right now you can find me hanging out with my brother’s dog at our house or trying to explore Pittsburgh more.
   2. What brought you to Venture Outdoors?
   I found Venture Outdoors a couple years ago when I was looking around for future internships. I honestly thought “Hey, that sounds like the perfect internship,” and now I’m here, so I guess I did something right.
   3. What are your top 3 favorite outdoor activities?
   Biking, kayaking (or anything involving water really), hiking
   4. Top 3 things we wouldn’t know about you by looking at you
   I honestly didn’t know what to put for this one, so who better to ask than some of my best friends. I like some of their responses better than what I had. They include:
   • That I like “that weird sad emo/punk music” (She meant pop punk)
   • That I used to be a vegetarian
   • That I’m a very selfless person
   5. Top adventure of your life thus far — can be anything!
   Almost every year I go on a family reunion vacation with my mom’s side of the family. I’m talking a 40+ person vacation. We are usually in the woods or on a little lake somewhere. One summer we had a rental house on Lake Saranac. It was right on the water and almost every day my cousins and I kayaked and canoed out to a little island where you were able to jump off the side and into the lake. It wasn’t super tall or anything, maybe around 10 feet, but I was still in high school and had never done anything like that, so it was pretty cool.
   6. One person, dead or alive, you’d like to take on a Venture Outdoors outing– and specify what kind!
   I’d take my dad on some kind of bird ID hike because I think he’d really enjoy that. Whenever he’s driving on the highway he points out all the hawks and other animals he notices. I would also take my niece on one of the kids craft walks or something like that – she’d totally love it.
   7. Describe your role at Venture Outdoors in 10 words or less
   Updating lots of stuff and sending emails.
   8. What is the craziest thing you have done?
   Most people will tell you the craziest thing I have actually done is not have a car in Northwest PA. I rode my bike or walked in the winter in Erie and Edinboro. People think that is super crazy. Personally, I feel like I don’t do anything crazy… But I can tell you in the next year I’ll be doing some crazy things. I’m moving to Raleigh, NC, somewhere I have never been, and I look forward to having many more adventures after that.
   9. What are your top 3 favorite things to do in Pittsburgh? Can be outdoorsy, restaurants, music venues, anything!
   I’m actually from Erie, PA so I’m still learning about the ‘burgh. Right now I can tell you:
   • I love shows at The Smiling Moose.
   • I haven’t done many outdoorsy things here yet, but I do like North Park a lot and I’m looking forward to exploring more parks in the area soon.
   • I tend to end up at coffee shops a lot, even though I don’t like coffee, and Big Dog Coffee is my favorite so far.
   10. What is your favorite forest/camping snack?
   S’mores of course. Do people really say anything else?
   11. Favorite campfire music?
   What comes to mind first is The Lumineers. I could answer this question a thousand ways, but really the music I want to listen to depends on the vibe of what is going on at the time, so my ‘favorite’ is constantly changing.

Stay tuned for more “Meet the Intern…” posts in the coming weeks!