My Park Story: Lighting the Way

Read below to learn how Ann-Marie B. Mignone, an Interpretation Ranger at Cape Hatteras National Seashore,
explored her way through time and to a career in the National Park Service!

Unsure what to do with my life, I ended up as a Park Ranger at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Caught under the lighthouse's interpretive beam, it illuminated my past and connected it to my future. Cape Hatteras National Seashore guides me forward into a National Park Service Career.

Ann-Marie. B. Mignone

My father and I dressed for Living History

Ann-Marie B. Mignone

Thinking about my park story, I struggled to know where the tale began. Does it start with my first NPS job? One of my first memories of a park experience? Or... how about at my literal beginning: when I was born?

I have a story today because of the many who loved me enough to teach me how to live. It is with my caretakers that my tale begins. While still in diapers my Papa shared with me his love for history with voluntary reenactment as a Revolutionary War Soldier. Through this, he also taught me about himself, our family, and how to share these ideals with others. Reenacting helped show me that people continue to change the world after they themselves are long gone.

Time stops for no one, so adulthood quickly loomed ominously over my childhood mind. To be prepared, I was under the impression that I had to “know” my own purpose. From a long-held passion for dinosaurs, I first decided on Paleontology. Tramping through deserts hunting for bones, I loved the work but thought it was too lonely. I shifted to a more human approach and gave archeology a try. Digging for artifacts was fun but the paperwork outweighs the fieldwork threefold! Taking this newfound requirement for work outdoors, I then looked to conservation work and trail building. The time was well spent, but something was still missing…

Lowering the flag during my internship at Fort Raleigh in 2022!

NPS Photo

I was pointed toward an internship opportunity at Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. There I discovered that Interpretation was something definable. That “something missing" was a word I hadn't learned until that point, though I quickly devoured as much as I could about it. The art of interpreting felt like a thread I could use to weave together all my interests into a tapestry of purpose.

A spark was lit. I could only see it faintly in the distance, but as I ran closer it grew into the powerful beam of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Because of good people, hard work, and a bit of luck, I was awarded my first badge. Only being an official employee for nearly three months, dozens of other NPS staff have helped me in too many ways. The genuine care of my peers and superiors has only strengthened the glow of that flame. I wish I could mention everyone here. If they are reading this, hopefully, they know the goodness they have put into this world.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was intended to be a cautionary beam, warning sailors of the dangerous shoals ahead. Luckily for me, I can look at the beacon through a different lens. Hatteras is not a teller of threats but guide to light up my path. Now I run forward into a new beginning with true direction.

My story began far before I did, thanks to many who are no longer with us. Now, I plan to keep that story running for them. Far, far past my own end.

In 2023 my journey only continues, just under a new light!

NPS Photo