The time came to sit on the panel and share my sage wisdom to these young girls that ranged from ages 13-15. After quick introduction by the panel, I decided to conduct an activity that required all of us to go outside. This activity was discussed quickly in the office by one of my colleagues before heading out to the Kelly Campus. On my 20 minute drive over I pondered on this brilliant idea, how I would present it and whether it would be a success or huge bust! As I had the girls stand in a line in front of me, still nervous as to whether I could pull this off; I asked the girls if any of them had ever seen the movie Titanic. With giggles and whispers of 13 -15 year old girls saying, “OMG! Leo is sooo cute” they all raised their hands. I proceeded to ask the girls if they remembered the scene in the movie where Jack teaches Rose how to spit. Glances of pondering faces starred at me as they shook their head confirming my question. At this point, I was pretty sure I was gonna miss my punch line, but as I asked what they thought that particular scene meant, one girl gave me the answer I was looking for. “It was to have her try new things,” she answered. With excitement I stated, “Yes, that’s right!” I then told the girls that the activity I was going to conduct was to prove something and then I asked them to spit! Yup, that’s right, S-P-I-T! I told them, “I asked you to do this, not simply because I want to teach you how to spit but to teach you to never be afraid of trying new things, experiencing life and any opportunity that comes your way. Always have an open mind to new ideas and experiences because these experiences are what are going to help you find your passion for what you want to do.”
As we finished spiting we all returned inside to talk in small groups about our work, what we do and how we got to where we are at. These girls were amazing and didn’t even give me a break to take a sip of water. After that experience, my perception of Girl Scouts changed and I have a new found respect for them and their Girl Scout cookies!
The following day I was invited to dinner again at the Teton Science School to do more of an informal mingling with a group that I had spoken to a few weeks ago about careers in the NPS. The first time I spoke with this diverse group of HS students, 2 out of the 15 had ever thought about being a park ranger. As I hung out with them while they completed their portfolios, they interrogated me about my professional and personal life asking me questions such as where I grew up, my ethnicity, how I became a park ranger and whether I liked my job. The most important question that stuck out to me was when they all asked me individually how they can get involved with national parks and become park rangers. I jumped on the computer and pulled up the NPS website with the map of the country. They called out where they were from and we looked at parks that surrounded their community. I was able to connect many of them directly to programs across the country such as the Crissy Field Center in San Fran. These students were truly inspiring and I’m proud and excited to have met them and hopefully influenced them to become part of our national park system.
In closing, with both groups, I quoted my hero and
inspiration Cesar Chavez – “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget
about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad
enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for
our own.” Que viva nuestro futuro! We are in good hand!
