Why I Became A Seasonal Park Ranger

Embarking on a new adventure brings excitement and trepidation. The sense of starting something new, facing fears, and taking chances creates physical, mental, and emotional reactions, both positive and negative. I recently took a bold step forward and reentered the workplace after 8 years of retirement. It took courage, imagination, self-confidence, and forethought. It took me years to figure out what I wanted after I retired. I spent the first few years exploring and traveling. I spent a few years volunteering part-time, which became full-time for a few years. After a lifetime of raising a family and working full time at a job I found unfulfilling, the last thing I wanted was to repeat my past. When I retired, I promised to not repeat the same mistakes in the last one-third of my life that I had made in the first two-thirds.

What this looked like at first was finding peace and joy in a simpler way of life. I downsized three times over 5 years, hanging onto things that were just things and finally freeing myself of years of accumulation of “stuff.” This was cathartic, and I felt so light afterwards. I kept a few special items, but most were given to my children or donated. I found the things I had lugged around for 20 years and saved for my children, which they didn’t want. We must consider that our memories are not our children’s, and they may not like what we cherish. It would have saved me a tremendous amount of money, time, and worry had I considered this fact years earlier.

I travelled and lived like a nomad for several years. I visited many states, parks, and monuments, spent time off-grid, travelled internationally, met new people, and reconnected with myself. I took an honest inventory of my past, which was sometimes painful. It’s enlightening to look at past situations, relationships, and patterns of behavior, and realize the only thing in common in all of it is yourself. It forced me to change. I promised myself I wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the first two-thirds of my life, and to achieve that, I had to make changes.

I looked closely at my past personal relationships as well as my employment history. There were patterns to each. As hard as self-inventory is, it's even harder to continue into old age carrying the guilt and weight of the past. We all have moments where we wish we had done things differently. I embraced that concept and moved forward, letting go of the past, letting it become my teacher, and attempting to live my life differently.

Over the years since my retirement, I’ve learned to love backcountry hiking, walking in the woods, spending time alone, and finding love's meaning. I’ve travelled within the United States and abroad. I’ve done a lot of volunteering for the US Forest Service and the National Park Service. I found my passion in interpreting NPS sites, particularly those associated with prehistoric Indigenous peoples. I find their connection to the land, resilience, and ingenuity remarkable. I love ethnobotany and how plants were a source of food, medicine, and survival.

I spent a year and a half working both interpretation and resources at a small national park, and with the help of a couple of wonderful park rangers, applied for seasonal park ranger positions within the park service. Little did I know at the time how precipitous my decision would be. This year has brought our national parks confusion, shock, and fear. Never in their history have they seen such gutting of staff, funding, and operations. The future is fraught with uncertainty about how best to serve visitors, how to operate facilities without funding, and the very existence of some parks. Since I decided to become a part of this, this entire branch of our government has been turned upside down. The challenges of being a park ranger are now more important than ever, and I can proudly say I am a part of that solution. I am spending my summer helping a national park navigate these uncertain times. I am bringing positivity, light, and enthusiasm to a time of uncertainty. I wake up grateful each day, having this opportunity to figure out the best way to engage visitors, tell the story here, and support a group of people dedicated to preserving, protecting, and teaching the public about our treasured lands, our parks, and historical sites.

After years of retirement, I decided to reenter the workplace after much self-reflection. I learned that I thrive with structure. With its loose timetable and lack of daily schedule, retirement was freeing but lacked purpose. The idea of answering to no one, doing what I wanted, when I wanted, was appealing at first, but over time proved unfulfilling. Volunteering gave me a sense of giving back and of a greater good. It reconnected me to nature, inspired awe, and helped to shape the idea of possible participation over and above what I was experiencing. The motivating factors of purpose, greater good, structure, and full-time 6 months each year led me to the National Park Service. It checked all the boxes.

Government service was never on my radar as an employment option during my lifetime. It held a stigma of bureaucracy, which it still does to a certain extent. That segued viewpoint became overshadowed by the people, purpose, and meaning of the National Park Service. The current political atmosphere aside, it is a copacetic relationship for me.

It is never too late to start something new. Age is not a criterion for inertia. Learning new things is necessary for cognitive health, socialization is good for mental and physical well-being, and movement is essential for a healthy body and mind.

Life doesn’t end with retirement. It can be a beginning. Finding inspiration and passion doesn’t diminish with age. Seeking out new areas of interest and being open to new prospects can lead to unexpected paths of discovery and fulfillment. Is it scary? Yes, but using age and fear as the criteria for discounting possibilities and turning away from new experiences is archaic. Today’s attitude for retirees encourages us to spread our wings and fly, define our freedom, and be open to the endless possibilities of aging!