I have been in my second Resource Assistantship position for a little over a month and have learned things about myself that I was unaware of. For the next few months and more, I am working with the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDNST) administrator to help in program tracking and support. It is one of the world’s premier long-distance trails, stretching 3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada along the Continental Divide. The trail spans four Forest Service regions (regions 1, 2, 3, and 4) and five states (NM, CO, WY, ID & MT). Meaning there are many people that we work with to administer the trail; partnerships are crucial!

Despite being new to the position, I hit the ground running on the first day I started. In my first week, I traveled to Washington, D.C., which holds precious memories in my heart. Washington, D.C. was the first family trip my parents took us on after we immigrated from Colombia; I remember loving the museums and taking photos in front of the white house. I had the opportunity to attend Hike the Hill in D.C., where national trail partners and federal trail administrators got together to discuss the successes of the trails and the future of our national trails. I sat in these rooms in awe of all the hard work the partners and administrators have completed in the last year. In one of the meetings, I met the Forest Service chief, Randy Moore. Standing next to the chief, I asked myself if this was real. Young little me would have never imagined I would be in this position. I was reminded of my voice and the inspiration of other women of color to keep working towards a better future, especially in trials. I left Washington with unforgettable memories and a brain full of ideas.

One of the ideas was creating a survey to share with our units and districts to understand where they are with their funded projects and how we could further support them. The survey was published on Survey123. It required me to do research and teach myself how to create the survey with the vision we had successfully. Additionally, sharing the survey meant I had to confirm all the points of contact for the specific districts. I spent a good two weeks connecting with the districts and learning how different districts manage the trail; I truly enjoyed it. Finally, the survey was published, and we received great feedback from the districts.

I cannot wait to see what projects I will be working on!