Before Hand

I don't know exactly when I started to seriously consider being a Park Ranger. It was before I moved to Utah in 2004 though. My first experience with a National Park that I can remember is flying to Yellowstone one winter with my family when I was eleven or twelve. It was a remarkable venture to me. Everything looks different in the snow. Even the little airpot in Wyoming was new. I remember getting off the plan and walking beneath an arch way made of antles. Fingers and toes were numb for most the trip, but that only made warming huts and hot chocolate all the sweeter. I have stayed in some beautiful hotels all over the world, but the little cabins we had at Yellowstone left an impression.

I believe it was on that trip that I got a book that would change my life! Park Ranger: True Stories From a Ranger's Career in America's National Parks by Nancy Eileen Muleady-Mecham. (Quite a long title!) Nancy had chronicled many of her experiences working as a Park Ranger. Initially it just sparked my interest. As a ranger, she was able to experience many noble professions: preservation, law enforcement, fire fighting, first responder to name a few. I felt so impressed by her life! The time she spent each day at work was time spent benefitting people and nature. The more I thought about it, the more I considered it as an actual career. It made me realize that park rangering isn't just putting around parks and reciting memorized tours, it is making a difference.

Previously,I had considered careers such as psychology, business, mathematics. Rangering has an almost comical connotation, and I think I liked the shock value. When I would first tell people that I wanted to be a Park Ranger, I think it took them a minute to realize I was serious. However, the more I looked into it as a viable option, the more realistic it became. Those other careers (aside from psychology) dealt with such petty things. Well, petty to me. Economy, money, business...they are all so fleeting. Our planet is forever older and forever longer than any one of us. Working with, and for, the Earth is an infinite calling with rewards deeper than any monetary oriented career.

After moving to Utah in 2004, my family spent more time exploring our American West, rather than the world. We went to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Zions, Bryce Canyon, Arches and Goblin Valley. These trips were memorable to me, especially as I had little experience in the Great Outdoors. There were so many marvels out there that I was missing out on.

So it was time to pursue the dream!