My Park Story: Alex Baker

This is Alex and this is his story:

“I grew up outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My family and I always went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for vacations, so I wouldn’t call us “big national park people”. As a kid though, I went to Valley Forge National Historic Park all the time because it was close to where I grew up. I didn’t necessarily go there for the historical context, though I loved going to museums, and still do, but there’s just so much to do there. I loved walking all the trails and just spending time there. I also spent a lot of time at local state and county parks as well, because I was always hiking- I’ve always been an outdoor person.

When it came time for college, I knew I wanted to do something in the parks or at least outside, so I didn’t go into college undeclared. I knew I wanted my degree in Recreation Parks and Tourism Resource Management at West Virginia University. I had all these possibilities and questions floating around in my mind as I delved deeper into this program. Do I want to pursue resource management, something in maintenance, or interpretation? Part of the course program was an interpretation class, so that got me introduced to the idea of interpretation as a formal job, but then actually doing it really helped narrow my focus. My first internship was with a small, local museum in West Virginia, and it was a lot of outdoor education which was very similar to interpretation, so that helped narrow my focus even more. I was then forwarded information on an internship at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. I applied for the Kay Jorgensen Internship which is sponsored by the Mount Rushmore Society, and I was accepted!

Alex holds an ice cream cone while posing for a photo with other interns and staff during his internship at Mount Rushmore in 2016.

NPS Photo/ B. Ostrander

My car needed a little bit of work before I could make the long road trip out to South Dakota which cut into my available travel time. After driving many hours straight to get to Mount Rushmore, I couldn’t find where I was supposed to check in and was feeling pretty stressed. Luckily, there was a parking lot to my right, so I pulled over and realized I had phone service. After getting some directions, I remember taking a few minutes and taking in the beautiful scene. I was in the Profile View parking lot, so I could see the profile of George Washington, and it was about 75 degrees and sunny. I had never seen the Black Hills before. After getting checked in, I remember walking down the Avenue of Flags and standing on the Grand View Terrace and being pretty impressed by the sculpture and thinking, “Wow! This is crazy!!” but still, more than anything, I remember thinking to myself, “how have I never heard of the Black Hills?” It’s just so beautiful!

The internship had me doing essentially the same job duties as uniformed interpretation park rangers, which included giving ranger talks, staffing the Visitor Center and Information Center desks, and answering visitors’ questions, so I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what it would be like to work at the federal level. After my internship, I still had one more semester until I graduated, so I went back and completed my undergrad. After graduation, I came back to the Black Hills to work at Custer State Park because I wanted to see what it was like to work at the state level. I worked there for one season as a gate crew lead. It’s still one of my favorite sites in the Black Hills.

The next summer, I came back to the Black Hills to work at Mount Rushmore in my first season in the green and gray uniform. I then began my National Park Service path. After Mount Rushmore, the next summer season I worked at Pipe Spring National Monument in northern Arizona. The following summer, I went to Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area in Washington state. I fell in love with this area and ended up staying an additional month after my season ended. I visited Mount Rainier National Park and just had a fantastic time hiking the Skyline Trail. I remember sitting in the sunshine when I came back down from the alpine portion of the trail and had a little snack and just took in the view. It was just beautiful! From there, I went back to Pennsylvania to work at Independence National Historical Park. I was a seasonal ranger for one season there and then became permanent. From there, I transferred back to Mount Rushmore.

I am currently a Visitor Services Assistant, which breaks down into two parts. About 50% of this position is general frontline interpretation- working the Visitor Center and Information Center desks, answering visitors’ questions, roving the grounds, etc. and the other 50% is the behind-the-scenes kinds of tasks such as stocking, ordering, and inventorying interagency passes and brochures. I also assist with some public affairs related items. I’m in charge of the Memorial’s general question e-mail inbox as well as responding to information requests via phone. What is different about this position from previous interpretation positions I’ve held is that I don’t do any formal interpretation, which would include developing 30- or 45-minute programs and giving evening programs.

Alex poses for a photo while on duty at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

NPS Photo/A. Rimstidt

Something I love about my job, and I think that’s what draws a lot of people to the NPS, is that it’s never the same thing every day. It’s always interesting. Sure, there’s more downtime in winter when fewer people are visiting, but there’s always new interactions with visitors. No two days are ever the same. You never know what you are walking into, which is always interesting, sometimes for better or worse. The other thing I love about my job is the inventory. There is something satisfying about counting that I really like doing. With how much of this position is visitor focused, it’s always nice to have a little time that’s just me counting and moving things.

To anyone thinking of joining the National Park Service or other public lands agencies I would say, explore as much as you can. I had no clue about the extent of all the jobs available in the NPS. I knew about interpretive park rangers, but not visitor services assistants. There are just so many different options at any of the levels - county, state, federal. Do your best to familiarize yourself with what’s out there at different levels, because they all have really cool things about them and cool sites all over the place. I know a lot of people have problems getting their foot in the door sometimes. I think the best way around that is to familiarize yourself the best you can with how to navigate and operate USAJobs.gov. I think there is a lot of good advice on USAJobs about how to create an effective resume, but it’s also about being familiar with the website. If you don’t know how to use the website, it’s very hard to get your foot in the door since all government positions are listed on that website.”