This past week I had the opportunity to partake in something I had never done before; I had the opportunity to go on Spanish radio stations to promote responsible recreation on behalf of the Forest Service. I would say that my Spanish is very conversational, but I was confident that I would be able to complete a radio interview. With the help of the RO Public Affairs department, I was connected to the Hispanic Communication Network to help them with the Responsible Recreation Media Tour.

The day before interviews were scheduled to begin, the Hispanic Communication Network scheduled a virtual meeting with me to go over the questions we could be asked on the radio. During this meeting, they helped me practice my answers and gave me more information on the logistics of the interviews. The theme of this radio tour was Responsible Recreation and the steps people could take to be responsible while outdoors. There were additional questions regarding what the Forest Service mission is and what kind of jobs the Forest Service offers.

I was scheduled to conduct two interviews that Wednesday. The first interview that took place was very fast and I was asked questions that were in the media advisory, so I knew what to say. I was a bit thrown off at the end when the host asked me what the most common types of injuries experienced at forests were. Since I had to answer in Spanish, I will admit that I struggled to come up with the words for personal injuries (it’s lesiones personales btw.) The second interview I had was longer with it being three segments of 7 minutes each. We were having technical issues at first and I kept on having to repeat myself so I was a bit unsettled but towards the end of the interview, I felt comfortable and was having a better-flowing conversation. This interview was more casual, and I had more of an opportunity to explain myself and elaborate on the importance of being outside and enjoying time in nature.

In the end, I was very proud of myself for taking on an activity that I had never done before and in a language that I don’t tend to use in the workplace. I’m glad to see that the Forest Service approaches community engagement with the Latinx community through different outlets and that I was given the opportunity to engage a few listeners. I hope that I inspired some people to head out and explore their nearest forest! 

Pictured in the thumbnail is Alejandra Lopez Cruz from the Inyo National Forest and I coming up with answers and practicing our interviews together!

Agency: U.S Forest Service

Program: Resource Assistant Program (RAP)

Location: Cleveland National Forest