This opportunity came about because I have always kept thoughts of being a park ranger in my mind, along with being a mailman who smokes cigarettes, a reporter who climbs on buildings and trees, a writer who blurts out,"Say the words for me!", and a stodgy professor in a purple jump suit with one leather pocket full of map pencils.
So after I graduated from U.N.T., I am so proud; the only thing I have ever done entirely on my own without anyone knowing; I located the Student Conservation Association online, paid $25 to make a profile, and began applying to seasonal posts in parks all over the country. I was ready to see what this life was all about. For a year, I worked in a bookstore while taking Education courses and wondered what was going to happen to me. Sometimes it was depressing, because I did not know what I was doing and the clock was ticking away; but I never failed to apply during the next season, and to add more information to my profile and to learn new outdoor skills that I thought would make me a better candidate. I also applied to an event the S.C.A. listed on its website: the Spring Break Academy, which takes 30 students nationwide and flies them to beautiful Jackson, Wyoming–where five feet of snow ensures you will meet Spring Break's quota for falling down and hurting your arm. These lucky contestants learn all about jobs in the Park Service: they meet the best people, including Robert Stanton, the head honcho of N.P.S., they test their apttitudes in every career the parks have to offer, and then they stand as very likely candidates for selection. Then I got an email asking what time was good for a phone interview. The interviewer remarked that my profile was more detailed and organized than any he had seen. I was selected... I made it in. There was no higher bliss than sharing the news with the people in my life. "Hey, turns out I am going to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for Spring Break. Yep, that's correct." Most people had obviously never been confronted with the idea of Wyoming before, me included. After the week of busy days packed with events from 8 AM to 9 PM, I was stunned by what I thought could possibly lie ahead of me. Working just one season opens the door to more, and here were these important rangers and park figures patting me on the shoulder and telling me how important and well-known us thirty students have become throughout the National Park circuit. It was like finding a suitcase full of gold. I could not turn it down. I quit my job, I jumbled my entire life. I was moving to Wyoming! I loved it. I made many friends, learned a lot, put in countless man hours simply existing in the mountains, and I will go back to Jackson Hole whenever and however I can. |