My GIS Day Experience

 

For my GIS Day event, I decided to keep things simple and personal by hosting a small, informal discussion at home with my family. Since they don’t have any background in GIS, but have asked me before about what I’m studying and what I do in my internship, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to explain it in a way they could actually understand.

We sat around the table, and I started by explaining what GIS is in simple terms; not just the definition, but how it’s used in real life. I showed them examples they could relate to. I also talked about how GIS is used during emergencies like hurricanes to plan evacuations and send help where it’s needed most. That part especially caught their attention since we live in Florida and experience hurricane season.

To make it more interactive, I showed them some maps and explained how layers work, like how you can add or remove different types of information. I also connected it to my internship and explained the kind of projects I’ve been working on so they could see how it applies to real jobs.

The whole event was very relaxed. We had snacks, they asked questions, and I explained things in a way that made sense to them. By the end, I felt like they had a much better understanding of what GIS is and why it’s important.

Overall, it was a really fun and meaningful way to celebrate GIS Day. Even though it wasn’t a big event, it made me realize how useful GIS is in everyday life and how important it is to be able to explain it to others in a simple way.

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