WSI Editorial

 

  Dog days of summer. I guess us folks down here in Texas were living on borrowed time during the early part of the summer, when temperatures were below normal. Hot weather has indeed arrived, and with the lush, green vegetation we have, our humidity levels are a bit greater than we are accustomed to in west Texas. 
   It seems like summers tend to pass by a bit faster than they used to. Perhaps as we get older, days simply tend to slip by a bit faster. Having a busy schedule probably makes for an increased rate of time passage as well. Who knows? Fact is, we are entering the twilight of this year's summer, and the next thing you know, dove season will be opening up, signaling the beginning of our fall schedules. 
   As you will notice, there are several pieces of information included with this ENews. One item I want to especially draw your attention to is the section discussing our intern students. Since 1988, we have relied on seasonal intern students and seasonal techs to help shore up our labor needs. These individuals serve in multi-tasking roles, and there is plenty of non-glory, behind the scenes assignments that fall on their plate. As Hall of Famer Roger Staubach once put it, "Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation," and I'll quickly admit that there is plenty of unspectuacular prep that our interns take care of.   

   Our interns have historically shouldered tremendous responsibility and their hard work makes a difference every year for WSI, and for me personally. I am frank with each of our interns from day one, making it clear to them that part of my goal as their employer, and sometimes their mentor, is to make sure that they are pushed harder than they ever have been pushed. I tell them that they may be cussing me by November or December, but, hopefully, when they wrap up their session by early January, it is also my goal for them to be able to proudly reflect back over the previous four months and feel a sense of accomplishment. I am extremely proud of many of these individuals who have interned with us, and seeing some of them literally morph from boys to men has been profoundly rewarding.
   Some of my most fond memories while I was a wildlife ecology major in school were those times associated with my three fall internships. What could be better, a 20 year old kid with a passion for wildlife and hunting, actually getting school credit and making some extra cash, while doing what I liked doing the most. Those were fun, exciting times during the formative stages of my career.
I'm looking forward to having Nick and Jack onboard. And by the way, we are looking for a third intern to spend most of their fall running a camera for us, as we begin a new video production arm where we will be building 10 minute mini-shows that will be featured on our website. A neat opportunity for some young college student to trek along on some exciting hunts, filming WSI clients taking their game. 

The notorious javelina skinner!

   Incidentally, I included a photo of myself here, to illustrate one of my personal fond memories during an internship. It's a vintage, 1983 photo. Some of my colleagues ask, "How'd you become a professional javelina skinner?" Well here's how it all got started!
 
Cheers,

 

Greg Simons