I have lived and worked around the Yellowstone area since I graduated college in 2021. Currently, I am an assistant manager of one of the Old Faithful Lodge gift shop in the summer and a tour guide in the winter. People often ask how I ended up all the way in Wyoming, and to be honest, I do not really have a straight answer. There are, I suppose, three main reasons why I am where I am today. 

The first reason was my semester abroad (ugh, I know, I am one of those people where abroad changed me). For most of my life, school was the most important thing to me. I went to a high school that was very academically competitive, and anything less than an A made me feel like I was failing. Essentially, I used my grades as a scale of my self-worth. So, most of my time was spent either in class or doing homework at home. Or I would have big social outings where my friends and I would study together at Panera or Starbucks. I had some extracurriculars, but for the most part, my life was school. In 2019, I did a semester at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. It was there, for the first time, that I felt as though school came second to me. I was there to experience a whole new country’s culture, not just to learn. I took very interesting classes and fully enjoyed my time at the University, but what made my time abroad were my afternoons wandering Auckland, my weekend trips to the beaches, or my week-long camper-van trip in the South Island. I gained an even bigger appreciation for the natural environment and to fully enjoy fun things in life. My semester abroad helped me find a better balance between school and life. 

The second reason was unfortunately Covid. I was getting my degree in psychology and was planning on getting my master’s or PhD so that I could do research. However, as everyone knows, life took a turn, and suddenly, I was no longer taking classes and living in DC--I was back in Florida, staring at a computer screen. I know I am not alone in saying that learning from online classes is not the easiest way. I tend to lose focus or get distracted by other things (I definitely would make whole meals during class because I could not fully focus). I also started to learn more about me and my obsession with school. I realized I did not like going to class just to learn, but I enjoyed the social aspect. I also recognized that it was not necessarily studying that I loved but being able to study in a group and get that socialization. So while I love to learn, it was not just that, that made me love college. A big part of school for me was the connections I had with people during my time there, and now suddenly, that was gone. I ended up getting burned out after almost a year and a half online and decided that maybe I needed a break from school, especially if there was a chance that graduate school would be online too. 

The third reason came after some introspection into who I was and what I enjoyed. Being outside and in nature--whether it's hiking, biking, skiing, or watching wildlife--is something that I have always enjoyed. I also learned after staring at a computer screen for a year that that was not something I wanted. I needed to have a job where I would be moving and to have constant stimulation. So with all of that in mind, I randomly one day googled jobs in national parks. I stumbled across a page telling me about working in a gift shop in Yellowstone National Park. After that I was determined to make the move to across the country. I checked the website every day until the applications were opened and applied that very day. I applied in October, started in June, and I am still here; even though I thought it was only going to be a one-season thing.

I do not have the prestigious job that I had imagined myself having when I was younger, but I do believe that I am a lot happier than I would have been if I had taken the path that I had expected. I work with awesome people who have the same appreciation for this park that I do. I get fulfillment from my job even though I just work in a gift shop. And it also helps that my backyard is the world’s first national park.