Leta McWilliams' Path

Leta McWilliams' Path

Created by N.Anderson

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Leta McWilliams' Path
Leta grew up in Colorado Springs, CO and when it came time to go to college, she chose Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO-just a few hours north of her hometown. She is currently the Greening Youth intern for the Science Division of the National Park Service. What is next for her? Check out Leta’s full Q&A below!
Map of the state of Colorado. Mountain illustrations marking the continental divide.
Pins dropped marking Colorado Springs and Fort Collins with an arrow going north signifying Leta's move from the Springs to Fort Collins for school.

Image courtesy of Leta McWilliams

A Q&A with Leta McWilliams

Tell us about your current job at the National Park Service? 

I am the Greening Youth intern for the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science (NRSS) Directorate of the park service. It’s for younger people interested in getting into the natural world. I work a lot with the Water Resources Division (WRD) helping with their internal and external websites. I do bits and pieces of editing for people and I’ve started work on social media for the Oceans Decade campaign (coming soon).

What was the journey like to get here? Was it a straight path or did you try a few different things?  

I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado and went to Palmer  high school, which is “the” downtown high school. During that time I was working at a garden center in Colorado Springs. It was an indoor/outdoor nursery.

Then, I moved to Fort Collins to attend Colorado State University (CSU). School wise (my path) was pretty straight forward. I always loved English and I knew creative writing would be my focus in college, but then I decided to pick up a journalism focus too. I worked for the University’s newspaper and was an editor for a while, which allowed me to really practice my skills in real-time. Because of my greenhouse experience from high school, I was able to get another job at a greenhouse in Fort Collins. I was the veggie person there and I honestly spent a lot of time talking to tomatoes in the veggie sections. My room now is essentially a greenhouse.

After graduating (in May 2020), COVID made jobs hard to find. My plan was to take a year off because I’m hopefully going to continue my education soon, but my advisor sent me the Greening Youth position. He was excited about it, claiming it was right up my alley and I agreed. I applied, got the job, and here we are today!

My goal is to go back to CSU or somewhere else to get Master’s in Creative Writing—hopefully by this fall. I’ve applied to creative fiction and nonfiction programs. 

What was the most important thing that got you where you are today? 

I wouldn’t be in this position if I hadn’t picked up a journalism focus in college. My advisor is in the Journalism department and that’s where I got a lot of the skills that I needed to get this job — or any job in communications. As an English major, I didn’t want to also study Communications because I felt it would be a lot of overlap. Journalism felt like a better fit, and gave me what I was lacking in my English degree.

Do you have any tips for those who are still in college or just graduating about how to find your path?  

Be ok with taking chances with things. I never saw myself in this position but the opportunity came about and it seemed like something that would be really important and meaningful. Give yourself the opportunity to daydream yourself in these positions and be okay with diverting from your original plan. This is the time to strive.