Last updated: November 16, 2023
Article
My Park Story: Maria Cavins
It was from the moment I was a 10-year-old girl in Virgin Islands National Park that one photo I captured would turn into a spark, igniting a passion in me to document diverse places, people, and cultures; I was inspired to become a lifelong storyteller.
My Park Story found me in ways I never realized were naturally interweaved throughout my life experiences and in my culture.
I grew up running around and flying kites on the slopes of San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico with my parents, abuelos (grandparents), siblings, tías y tíos (aunts and uncles), and primas (cousins). We enjoyed piraguas, or shaved ice, at the national park while reminiscing on memories and making new ones. I had the opportunity to bring my husband here several times to fly kites with my family and tour the national park. Now, we’re looking forward to bringing our future family and junior ranger (who’s on the way) to this nostalgic and historic site.
My Park Story found me in ways I never realized were naturally interweaved throughout my life experiences and in my culture.
I grew up running around and flying kites on the slopes of San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico with my parents, abuelos (grandparents), siblings, tías y tíos (aunts and uncles), and primas (cousins). We enjoyed piraguas, or shaved ice, at the national park while reminiscing on memories and making new ones. I had the opportunity to bring my husband here several times to fly kites with my family and tour the national park. Now, we’re looking forward to bringing our future family and junior ranger (who’s on the way) to this nostalgic and historic site.
I experienced a full-circle moment during a recent visit to Puerto Rico when I stopped by San Juan National Historic Site to meet staff and tour the grounds, this time as a “parkie”. As I figuratively dawned a new hat – a ranger hat – while returning to this special site from my childhood, I was overwhelmed; getting to view it through a new lens as a National Park Service storyteller. Memories from my childhood flooded my imagination during our tour as I envisioned seeing and hearing my cousins and I playing and giggling in the fort’s tunnels and garitas, or sentry boxes. It was at this time that the importance of historic preservation through storytelling “hit home” for me.
I’ve had the great honor and blessing to get to experience the grandeur and wonder of our national parks with my family as my parents sought to expand my horizons through learning about our country’s historical, natural, and cultural resources. From Arizona’s Grand Canyon to Alaska’s land of the midnight sun, from the rare and sacred landscape of Hawaii’s Haleakala National Park to Maine’s crown jewel of the North Atlantic at Acadia National Park, and to the island of hope at Ellis Island where my Italian ancestors immigrated to America to attain the American dream for themselves, my family, and me.
My personal Park Story has evolved over my lifetime, yet My professional Park Story has more recently developed over the last year at the National Park Service’s headquarters in the Office of Communications as a Senior Public Affairs Specialist where I've been able to elaborate on storytelling for the agency at the national level. Aside from helping manage and guide the agency's national level communications strategy, one of my passion projects has been getting to produce and shape storytelling for the My Park Story podcast, a “parkcast” that tells the stories of individuals who share their unique connections to the parks and the National Park Service in their communities.
As a proud military spouse who comes from a long lineage of family members who served in the military, I’ve always had a deep love and devotion for my country from a “land of the free and the home of the brave” perspective. Since getting to work for the National Park Service, my aperture has opened in realizing that patriotism can present itself in different forms - through love of country from its rich and vast historical, natural, and cultural resources. I'm very grateful for my professional and personal experiences with the National Park Service and they will always live in a special place in my heart.
As a proud military spouse who comes from a long lineage of family members who served in the military, I’ve always had a deep love and devotion for my country from a “land of the free and the home of the brave” perspective. Since getting to work for the National Park Service, my aperture has opened in realizing that patriotism can present itself in different forms - through love of country from its rich and vast historical, natural, and cultural resources. I'm very grateful for my professional and personal experiences with the National Park Service and they will always live in a special place in my heart.
