I grew up in a Southern California desert, 60 miles east of Los
Angeles. Despite growing up in a rather large city ironically named
Riverside, when there was not uncommonly fires burning in empty
canals, I grew to love the hot desolate outdoors. My infatuation with
nature dates back to my days as a young girl scout. I went camping
with my family and troop at least three times a year, and the cool
thing about the area I grew up in was that you could “get away” in
relatively short amounts of time. I played in the fluffy snow in the
Sierra Nevadas, swam in mountain lakes, camped out on beaches with
sandy cliffs, and camped in deserts near awkwardly shaped Joshua
trees. All of these experiences led me to believe I was going to one
day work outdoors and hopefully help others to learn to love the
natural world.
My first dream of being a marine biologist was drowned when I realized
I am a little too paranoid about sharks to want to swim in the ocean
every day. After this conclusion I turned my thoughts towards a
general Biology degree and started to attend Purdue University to
escape the hustle and bustle of Southern California city life. I
really enjoyed Purdue, but every time I visited home for break I was
reminded how much I enjoyed mountains and really missed being close to
them. Upon graduation I had a revelation: now I have a degree to help
me make a career out of this love!
I worked as a Girls Scouts camp counselor for 3 summers working along
side children letting them shape me while doing my best to be a role
model myself. The SCA provided me an opportunity earlier this year to
work in Canyonlands National Park as a Park Guide Intern. I worked
along side rangers in running the visitor center, roving trails, and
creating programs for visitors. I now am looking forward to one day
working as a NPS ranger. This current SCA program will let me work
with children in a more formal setting and hopefully provide an escape
into wonder. I want to be able to inspire kids in a way that I was
when I was younger and to let them expand their wonder in the natural
world.
