07 Jun My Journey To The Grandest of Canyons

Hello everyone! My name is Kevin Garcia, and I’m happy to be reporting from Grand Canyon National Park. My position here is interpretation and outreach as well as helping with the local YCC (Youth Conservation Corps). I am from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but go to school at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. My major is recreation management with a minor in leadership studies and a concentration in outdoor experiential education. I have been working in challenge courses for the past five years and love the outdoors. I actually applied for this position last year and made it to the top three candidates, but alas, I wasn’t chosen. Not to worry though, I spent the year improving my resume and working on my interviewing skills. I applied again this year and was chosen as the interpretation and education intern at the Grand Canyon!

I grew up in a lot of places since the company that my dad worked for was contracted by military bases, so I’ve lived in Texas, Hawaii, Colorado and finally North Carolina, where he decided to stay. When I was younger, I did not have much experience with the outdoors, even though I’ve lived in some cool places. When I lived in Denver, I lived in an area where I could see the city skyline; behind it were the Rocky Mountains. My parents would drive us to the mountains, but we would never get out of the car. I always wanted to get out and explore, but they just didn’t know much about the outdoors. Years later when I first started college, I was going into the Nursing field. I was not happy. I was very stressed and was honestly doing it for the money. One summer I worked at a ropes course in upper NY without any experience with the outdoors. I immediately fell in love and knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Work in the outdoors. I changed my major and have been working in outdoor jobs for the past 5 years. Now i’m working at one of the coolest places in the U.S. and couldn’t be happier. I already know that this will be a challenging but awesome summer!