In 2006, I started my seasonal career in the park service. When I became a permanent Park Guide in 2008, I quickly realized two things- I'd have to work twice as hard and be twice as accurate in my job to get any recognition beyond my supervisor. It wasn't only because if the color of my skin but because of my uterus, my breast- being a woman. Now the NPS has come a long way from the "good ol' boys" club, but they still have a long ways to go in regards to woman and diversity.
The second thing I realized is that there is a prime in your career that you'll get recognized by others that'll reap rewards and accolades. That prime is when you're in the field, on the ground making instrumental change to the lives of others or leading research. I've passed my prime, I worked six years in the field building programs to introduce youth and families of diverse background to a park in their own backyard. I worked to build a program with a group of amazing partners to introduce students of diverse background to careers in the NPS.
Now, as a program manager in a regional office, I will not be recognized for the work I do, but let's be honest, budgets and writing policy and guidance don't get recognition. 😝. I've passed my prime.
I didn't come into the NPS or continue my work to get accolades or awards of any sort, I came in to make a difference, "change lives" one person or group at a time. I've worked with amazing, bright, up and coming youth whom, because of the experiences they've had in the programs I've built or helped build are on a path to working with NPS or making a difference in conservation today. They are the now, our future, my legacy.
Yesterday, I met a young man who worked in my past park this summer. He worked with a group of students of the program I developed there. When I told him the work I had done in this park, his eyes lit up and he grabbed my hand and said, "thank you! Working with those students, my first group of youth to work with, changed my life. I've never met such a group of smart young people before!" At that moment, that was my accolade, my recognition and award, that a program that I built is continuing to change the lives of young people across the country.
I write this, not to pat myself on the back, but to say to all those folks doing great work from the field, up to the halls of regional offices and Interior, our work makes a difference. We continue to change lives and make instrumental change. We are needed. Keep fighting the good fight!
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Sleeping giant
Sleeping Giant
Day in and day out, we turn on the news to hear about the most recent school shooting, stabbing on a metro platform or workplace violence. A majority of times the story goes like this.... "We'll my [son, daughter, husband] was depressed or suicidal or was bullied" and that was their moment to snap.... A release of something bottled up far more than any person could understand, unless of course, you are one suffering from a mental illness- the sleeping giant.
Mental illness has long been a taboo in this country- back from when lobotomies were the norm and electric shock was just something that would hopefully make a person "normal". Medicine has come a ways to bring us to where we are today and so many discoveries of the human mind have been made, yet so much remains a mystery. Today, 26.2% or 1 in 4 Americans suffer from some sort of mental illness (National Institute of Mental Health). This may include depression, ADHD, food disorder, anxiety, PTSD and even Autism, to name a few.
Fear remains in that many are afraid to speak out of their potential illness because of others reaction and the taboo that comes with it. Facing the issues head on and speaking to someone is a must. Recently, my father was admitted into the hospital due to suicidal ideations and hallucinations. My dad has suffered many years as a diabetic, victim of two strokes and for the past four years dialysis. I have watched a strong, stout man wither away to skin and bones, yet he has never lost his sense of humor. His body is exhausted and his idea of a way out is to take his life, a decision that he has always seen as something cowardly to do. The toll is not only on my dad but those who have suffered alongside him our entire lives- my brother, mom and I. Only we, and those who are caretakers, know how good and bad life was as we stayed up late and made numerous runs in and out of hospitals. You become numb the the hospitals, to the sickness and even the though of ultimate death of your loved ones.
My dad worked his fingers to the bone, day in and day out trying to make ends meet. He is a 8 year veteran of the Army National Guard and that is where his hallucinations come from. He explains that his training was so real that that had mortars, practiced what I t would be like to be a POW and how to survive during war. It is these trainings that haunt him today. He sees and talks to his platoon, writes orders to give to his commander and when he hears a noise that sounds like a grenade or mortar, wants to take cover. Yet, he is not seen as a veteran by VA and doctors refuse to diagnose him with any type of PTSD.
We are lucky, in that my dad is still with us today and decided to ask for help rather than remain silent. He is receiving help one day at a time and fishing and the outdoors helps calm his mind. The struggle is far from over but it took those 2 minutes to gather the courage to ask for help that has saved his life for now.
I write this not to seek pity for my family or father, because we are one of many. I write in hopes of encouraging others with similar conditions to save their life and ask or seek help. You can be helped and there is help,if you're willing to take it.
Sources: National Institute of Mental Health - http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml
Day in and day out, we turn on the news to hear about the most recent school shooting, stabbing on a metro platform or workplace violence. A majority of times the story goes like this.... "We'll my [son, daughter, husband] was depressed or suicidal or was bullied" and that was their moment to snap.... A release of something bottled up far more than any person could understand, unless of course, you are one suffering from a mental illness- the sleeping giant.
Mental illness has long been a taboo in this country- back from when lobotomies were the norm and electric shock was just something that would hopefully make a person "normal". Medicine has come a ways to bring us to where we are today and so many discoveries of the human mind have been made, yet so much remains a mystery. Today, 26.2% or 1 in 4 Americans suffer from some sort of mental illness (National Institute of Mental Health). This may include depression, ADHD, food disorder, anxiety, PTSD and even Autism, to name a few.
Fear remains in that many are afraid to speak out of their potential illness because of others reaction and the taboo that comes with it. Facing the issues head on and speaking to someone is a must. Recently, my father was admitted into the hospital due to suicidal ideations and hallucinations. My dad has suffered many years as a diabetic, victim of two strokes and for the past four years dialysis. I have watched a strong, stout man wither away to skin and bones, yet he has never lost his sense of humor. His body is exhausted and his idea of a way out is to take his life, a decision that he has always seen as something cowardly to do. The toll is not only on my dad but those who have suffered alongside him our entire lives- my brother, mom and I. Only we, and those who are caretakers, know how good and bad life was as we stayed up late and made numerous runs in and out of hospitals. You become numb the the hospitals, to the sickness and even the though of ultimate death of your loved ones.
My dad worked his fingers to the bone, day in and day out trying to make ends meet. He is a 8 year veteran of the Army National Guard and that is where his hallucinations come from. He explains that his training was so real that that had mortars, practiced what I t would be like to be a POW and how to survive during war. It is these trainings that haunt him today. He sees and talks to his platoon, writes orders to give to his commander and when he hears a noise that sounds like a grenade or mortar, wants to take cover. Yet, he is not seen as a veteran by VA and doctors refuse to diagnose him with any type of PTSD.
We are lucky, in that my dad is still with us today and decided to ask for help rather than remain silent. He is receiving help one day at a time and fishing and the outdoors helps calm his mind. The struggle is far from over but it took those 2 minutes to gather the courage to ask for help that has saved his life for now.
I write this not to seek pity for my family or father, because we are one of many. I write in hopes of encouraging others with similar conditions to save their life and ask or seek help. You can be helped and there is help,if you're willing to take it.
Sources: National Institute of Mental Health - http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml
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