A Ranger At Last

Deciding to apply for a job as a ranger was a big choice. It would be my first real job and it would also be taking up my last summer before college. I wouldn't be able to play with friends as much and would have to be willing to miss some family vacation time. But truely, I knew it was what I wanted and I knew it would be worth it a hundred times over for my career.

However, around the time I should have been applying, I was preoccupied with a major surgery. In the end of Decemember, 2009 I had maxiofaciall surgery. My jaw hadn't grown in correctly and my teeth didn't touch, my lower teeth were laying down on their sides to try to balance my underbite, cartilage was growing on my nose and chin to counter act the strains of a unbalanced jaw. So it needed to be taken care of and there is a prime age where you have completely stopped growing, but all the bones in your face haven't completely settled. So I spent three days in the hospital after a six and a half hours surgery and couldn't eat solid foods or open my mouth for six to eight weeks. So you can see why applying for a summer job didn't make my to do list. That picture is a x-ray of my face. The dots and lines are screws and small metal plates. I have twenty-seven screws and six metal plates and one little twist tie (you can see it in my chin).

I don't know if the difference looks very big to you, but it certainly was to me! Especially they way I smile is different.

Anyways, that is beside the point except for explaining why I didn't apply for the job when I should have. About mid-March, I emailed Timp Caves and explained my situation a little and asked if there was any way I could still apply. Mike Gosse said that they had just about finished all the hiring they were going to do, but he would still let me have a phone interview with him and Karissa DeCarlo. They would be making the final decisions that weekend. I had prayed and prayed for this job and had I waited one more week, I probably would have missed the chance entirely.