news

Good news! Well, better than good; great, fantastic, amazing news. I GOT A JOB! Yes, after being mostly unemployed in Portland for the better part of 6 months, I finally got a job. However, it's not in Portland, it's in Yosemite National Park!

This job has been a long time coming as it will be my first step in my career as a ranger. I actually have career goals? Yes, yes I do. And it's about 90 percent exhilarating and exciting and 10 percent terrifying!

I think I always knew I wanted to work in national parks ever since high school. Why I pushed it aside? I probably thought it wasn't very conducive to "real life" so I majored in something much more practical, something where I knew I would always have a job. There's the story of me picking my tassel up for graduation and it being the wrong color for nursing graduates, but rather the color for the Parks and Rec graduates. I don't really believe in signs, but that's a bit ironic! And all my nursing classmates headed right into their first job as a nurse immediately after graduation while I took the summer to sell trinkets at a gift shop in Glacier. It was that experience that has forever changed my life in greater ways than I ever knew at the time. I always thought of it as my "last fun summer job" not something that would eventually lead me where I am today. Here's the thing though: I can't deny it any longer. I honestly think that this is where I belong and what I'm supposed to be doing. I've never been so fully on board with a job before...it's so exciting!

I am also very grateful about this whole experience of finding THIS job at this time. It almost seems like several stars had to align and everything had to fit together just right for it to occur. I have to give all credit to the person who made me apply for ranger jobs, and was/still is a constant source of encouragement, and believed in me and what I had to offer even when I didn't think that much of myself. So, many thanks, A! I'm such a lucky girl! I don't quite know what the set-up for this summer is going to be like, but I'll try to get back on board with posting. And if you're ever in NoCal, let me know!