ProRanger Program at Temple University: February 2016

Monday, February 22, 2016

2016 Participating Parks Announced!

Welcome to Cohort 5!

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." - Helen Keller

Hello! My name is Stephanie Hudson and I have the privilege of being one of the members of the Temple University ProRanger Program’s newest cohort. I grew up on a farm in rural North Carolina, which meant that there weren’t many things to do close to home. While I grew up less than an hour’s drive from numerous watersheds, gamelands, and State/National forests and parks, I also grew up almost 30 minutes away from the mall, movie theater, and the skating rink (and let’s be honest, that’s all my small town really had to offer for adolescents). As a result, I learned to find adventure in everything, and that is something I carry with me even today. Trying new things is something I love to do, and just this last year alone I’ve gone waterfall rappelling, rock climbing, and whitewater rafting, and I’m looking forward to going dog sledding over spring break!

While I enjoy all the new experiences National Parks have to offer, the thing I enjoy most about National Parks, Battlefields, Seashores, and Historic Sites is the dedication to preserving and protecting not only what remains of historical landmarks and landscapes, but also the history and culture that pervade these sites. As a volunteer at Carl Sandburg National Historic Site in high school, I began to understand why it is important to have resources in place to preserve, protect, and promote one of America’s most valuable resources. As a ProRanger, I am reminded that while there is a duty to uphold these three ideals of the National Park Service, as law enforcement officers our focus centers on protection: protecting both the resources and the people from each other and themselves.

For my summer internship I am really looking forward to learning about a new park and expanding my knowledge of the “behind the scenes” action that goes into running a successful park. All too often I have seen parks (and those that work there) get taken for granted, so working with all the different aspects of a park will really help broaden my respect for the enormous amount of dedication and work required to keep all the parks running smoothly. I am also excited to partake in new experiences, as that is how we learn and grow the best, and life is nothing if not one big adventure.

Overall I’m extremely excited for this upcoming summer, and I can’t wait to see what is in store for me!

Bigger Than Myself

Greetings, my name is Angelo Algeri. It is a great pleasure to be able to introduce myself as a member of Temple University’s ProRanger program. In addition to being a member of the program, I currently study Civil Engineering and pursue a minor in Geography. I wanted to study Civil Engineering because I’m constantly amazed with the world at large. I often find myself gazing upon infrastructure and speculating the ways in which it manifested. Infrastructure systems extend into resources necessities that people understand as common. However, systems pertaining to water and traffic incorporate safety and security within each proposed design. I was led me to civil engineering through a desire to understand the processes of building and securing safety within structures. Since studying the mechanics of structural systems, I have found more appreciation for things that might be considered mundane and ordinary.

You may be questioning why I paired geography with engineering. You also may be thinking how this aligns with my membership in the ProRanger program, but I assure you I will address these questions shortly. As you can see so far, I have many interests and I am quite passionate about each of them. My interest in geography stems from the production and application of technical drawings. Using drawings to make sense of surrounding environments or a tool in assembly has always struck me with a burning curiosity. I find it so interesting that two dimensional prints can be used to make sense of natural systems that are so complex. Naturally, my geography minor is focused toward cartographic production.

My curiosity towards understanding the surrounding environment aligns with the preservation values inherent to the National Park Service. I view a career as a law enforcement ranger as an opportunity to participate in the crucial groundwork of preservation that takes place in the Park Service. Most importantly, being a ranger will not only allow me to be a part of an amazing organization, but also allow for involvement in something bigger than myself.

Though my summer placement is still undecided, I’m beyond enthusiastic at the chance to experience and explore more of our beautiful nation. During my internship, I’d like to train in both emergency medical services and in any restoration-related opportunity. I also hope to witness the day-to-day work of a law enforcement ranger because I believe shadowing will help me narrow down my future career plan and goals. One of the things I most look forward to is developing an understanding of the history of the park. In my interpretation, history allows for the connection of why things have come and gone within or outside the park. Understanding the park’s history encourages an interconnectedness with the surrounding environment. In understanding the historical background of the park I am placed at, it will encourage full appreciation of my experience. During my leisure time, I plan to sketch my favorite areas within the park and hopefully some will end up within my future blog posts. I will use this platform as a personal portal, allowing shared insight into my internship and experience within the ProRanger program.

Monday, February 15, 2016

The New ProRanger

My name is Brennan McAuley. I am using this post to introduce myself on both a semi-personal, and professional level. I am twenty years old, and a sophomore at Temple University. Some interesting facts about me: I grew up visiting national parks, I am fluent in German, and I have wanted to be a Park Ranger since I was in the seventh grade. All three of these facts have a story behind them. They help explain who I am as a person and who I want to become as a professional.

Through my exploration of many national parks and national historic sites I was able to discover how amazing the U.S.A truly is. While I do feel like my love for the United States of America is innate, I realize that my love for this nation comes from my experiences in national parks, and from growing up learning about America’s unique history. My parents instilled in me the significance of being American and what a true privilege it is. My love for travel and education go hand in hand, especially when I chose to do my senior year of high school abroad in Germany. I was able to do this by getting accepted into the competitive Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange scholarship. This is a government funded scholarship that allowed me to complete a full academic year of high school in Germany. I was the first student at my high school to ever attempt this and I had to work to influence and create policy in my school district to make it possible. I learned so much from this time period, from learning German to learning how to stand for what I believe in, work hard, and persevere through anything that comes my way.

In our society a career is often what defines us. I always knew I wanted to have a purposeful and meaningful career. I have always had an interest in the outdoors and history. I also possess a very strong passion for law enforcement. After taking a number of law classes at Temple I knew exactly what I wanted to do. They say if you do what you love then you will never work a day in your life. I disagree with this statement because I enjoy hard work and getting the job done. I am on my way towards doing what I love, and I have never planned on working harder to get there. Once I am there I am going to continue to work hard to effectively and proudly represent the National Park Service. I am eager to work for the NPS and to make my contributions, whatever they may be. I am already on my way to starting my career and working towards something that stands for something so much more than just myself.

You are reading this because I was selected into the fifth cohort of the Temple University’s ProRangers program. I realized from the moment I found out about the program what an amazing opportunity it is. I am going to take advantage of everything this one of a kind program has to offer me. For example, I am going to get the most out of my upcoming summer internship. I do not know where my internship will be taking place yet, but I will surely post again when I find out. I love national parks because of their mission; because of this I will be happy anywhere I go this summer. I am excited to give it my all and learn a lot wherever my summer internship takes place. If I were to become a law enforcement ranger today I would not be ready. I would not be ready at all. However, I know that after I complete the ProRangers program at Temple University I will have the confidence, knowledge, and skill necessary to do my job and be great at it. Today I cannot wait to learn from the best, tomorrow I cannot wait to be the best.

I want to thank everyone who has allowed me to get to this point, and for believing in me. This is a program I am truly passionate about. I am looking forward to being able to use this blog as a platform to help share my growth and experiences with you. For this post I would like to conclude with my favorite quote, “ Du kannst dem Leben nicht mehr Tage geben, aber dem Tag mehr Leben”. This is German for "You cannot give life more days, but you can give your days more life". Please feel free to leave questions or comments. Thank you for taking the time to read my first post. I enjoyed being able to share a little bit about myself and why I am here!

Update: 3/22/16 I am excited to announce that I will be completing my first summer internship at Boston National Historical Park. I am looking forward to learning the ins and outs of the park. I am also looking forward to meeting and learning from extremely skilled and practiced NPS employees.

Finding a Destiny

Hello Everyone. Allow me to introduce myself… my name is Nick Gosik, and I am part of cohort 5 in the Temple ProRanger Program. I am a transfer student at Temple, transferring in last semester, and currently loving Temple! I am a junior and am a finance major in the Fox School of Business. I am beyond excited to have become a part of this program and continue to look forward to see where this will take myself and all of the other great friends that I have had the chance to get close to in the program. For everyone to get to know me, let me give you a background of what has ignited the fire in me to give back and help people, how I currently do that now, and want to continue to over my first internship at a National Park/Battlefield this upcoming summer.

The event that really has struck me and made me want to give back to people is one that will always be remembered in our nation’s history, which is the tragic events that happened on September 11, 2001. To this day, I cannot pinpoint what it is, but it lights a fire in me, wishing I were old enough on that day to help those trapped in the towers. My family lost a close friend that day, as he was the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 that hit the North Tower. So not only could I see the hurt in everyone around the country, but to people close to me. I did not know how I wanted to help and protect people though until I was about 17. Before then, I was in between wanting to become a cop or a firefighter so; I joined my local police department’s Police Explorer Program. It was one way I could start to learn and give back to my local community. But when I turned 17, I decided to join my local volunteer fire department. My decision to join the program was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life and will never regret. Since then, I have given most of my time to training and running calls for my department and just this year was promoted to Sergeant, being put in charge of tools on our trucks and training all of our junior members, whose ages range from 16-18. I also am currently working on getting my National Registry EMT certification, so I can further equip myself to help more people in ways I currently cannot. As tragic as the events of 9/11/01 were, these events made others, including myself want to give back to others and helped us choose, in my eyes, the most rewarding careers out there.

So, you may be sitting there asking yourself, why would he want to become a NPS Law Enforcement Ranger? That is a great question and I will tell you why. It is because it incorporates everything I would love to do in one career and I would feel like I never worked a day in my life! The opportunities that have been explained to me sound endless and will always have me learning new skills! Even though I am a volunteer firefighter and love it, my career choice would be in law enforcement, which a National Park Ranger LEO is. Outside of that, you can have the opportunity to learn wildland firefighting and many other different aspects of fire prevention and fire fighting. Also, I would be able to use my EMT certification to help those that are injured accidently, or sometimes on purpose, when citizens our exploring our beautiful national parks and battlefields around the country. Being a Law Enforcement Ranger would be a dream come true and I will work through anything I need to in order to achieve this goal.

We have not found out what park yet we are going to yet, but regardless, I will be happy with any park I am assigned to. I am very eager to learn and explore what it is like working in the parks and the variety of scenes and artifacts, which are located in them. My favorite kinds of parks are those with many different hiking trails and wildlife and close to rivers, lakes, or oceans. I look forward to sharing with everyone what park I will be going to in the future when we are told and how my experiences go over the summer!

Let Me Tell You a Little About Myself

Hello,

My name is Justen Williams and I am part of cohort 5 for Temple University’s ProRanger Program. I am a sophomore at Temple and I am a member of the university's men’s crew team. This is my first season on the team. I walked onto the team early into the fall semester. I am from a smaller town in Michigan called Brighton. When I went to high school in Brighton, I was a member of the football team and I was also a member of the men's swim team. Also back in Michigan, I was a member of the Hamburg Township Police Explorer Program. The Explorer Program taught me skills about dealing with traffic stops, clearing buildings, conducting accident investigations, and finally handling domestic situations.

My time in the Explorer Program was definitely a major reason why I wanted to join the ProRanger Program. It showed me that I wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement. I just had one problem, where would I end up working? When I was younger I spent most of my free time either camping, hiking, or biking in the state and national parks around me. Even now when I am home for holidays, I spend most of my time out exploring and taking in the natural beauty the country has to offer. When I was looking for colleges, I looked at the internship opportunities. When I looked at Temple, I saw they had this program and it was the major selling point on going to Temple.

I cannot say I have had the pleasure of viewing many national parks outside of the ones in Michigan. So far, one of my top parks is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Even though I have spent most of my time outside of the city and outside of the historic areas of the country, all the parks interest me. I would like to eventually try to work in all the different types of parks and not just be locked into just one type.

I look forward to sharing my experiences in the ProRanger Program with all of my readers.

Allow Me To Introduce Myself

From the time I was a child I’ve always been fascinated with the way natural systems work. I believe this is largely due to me spending the first eight years of my life in the Tidewater area of Southeastern Virginia. This region lies right where the continent meets the Atlantic Ocean and is very rich in ecological diversity. This plethora of life gave me a pretty good reason to spend as much time outdoors as possible just taking in and exploring the intriguing landscape and the plants and animals living there. When I wasn’t outdoors I was usually listening to Sir David Attenborough or Steve Irwin narrate some spectacular ecological occurrence on a television program. This love of the natural world has stayed with me through my life and continues to shape my interests and hobbies in the present.

My name is Taylor Johnson and I am one of the new ProRangers in Cohort 5. Today, as an environmental studies student at Temple University one of my primary interests in the National Park Service is their ability to simultaneously educate visitors and enforce laws regarding the treatment of the environment and local ecosystems. National Park Service units provide the perfect opportunity for the public to come and learn about the history and culture of the United States and to take in the scenery in some of the most beautiful areas in the United States. It is my belief that these beautiful, well maintained open spaces can serve as places of insight for those visiting. I feel that it would be quite a difficult task to leave from a visit to a NPS unit without having gained respect for the natural and cultural resources preserved there. However, when visitors decide to violate laws instead of taking in their surroundings, law enforcement ranger are there to step in and administer the appropriate action needed to help prevent visitors from violating these laws again in the future. I believe that this pairing of education and enforcement is an incredibly effective way to affect the public’s thoughts’ on environmental issues.

What first got me interested in Temple University’s ProRanger program was the potential I saw for the availability of resources I’m going to need to shape myself into a highly skilled and refined law enforcement officer in the National Park Service. As I became further acquainted with the program I began to truly see the scope of these resources, whether they be aimed at my professional or personal development. There are ample opportunities for my fellow ProRangers and I to engage in hands on training and group exercises to prepare us for the situations we will be facing in the future as park rangers. Additionally, our engagement in a variety of academic and professional courses allows to gain an understanding of the full scope of the National Park Service and the effect it has on the American public. As a member of the relatively new Cohort 5 I’ve only had a small taste of these experiences but I am eager for more.

Looking ahead to my first summer internship through the ProRanger program I’m incredibly excited to be spending it learning a National Park Service unit inside and out. When it comes to what type of NPS unit I prefer I’m very open, but I do have a preference for parks that are focused more on showcasing the natural world than they are on displaying history and telling the story of people and events of the past. Most of the NPS units I’ve been to in the past have been historical parks and sites but the parks I’ve visited that really stand out in my memory are the scenic and picturesque parks. I feel that natural, scenic parks encapsulate the excitement and adventure or spending time away from the normal landscapes of life that many associate with the NPS. However, the type of park I’m stationed as this seems fairly insignificant when compared with the fact that I’ll be spending my summer in one of the most interesting and educational places in the United States.

2016 Philadelphia Flower Show Celebrates 100 years of the National Park Service

I was pretty excited to hear that the theme of the 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show would be in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the National Park Service. I thought what an excellent way to get people really involved and interested in our country's national park system and to discover the range of backgrounds that the park system holds. From historical properties to national monuments there is a little something for everyone to enjoy.

The good news didn't end there though for myself and other fellow ProRangers. We have been given the gracious opportunity to help assist Temple University's Landscape Architecture students in this year's flower show. The students have been hard at work studying and creating an exhibit that honors Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site. I am extremely excited to see what they have put together and to support them at the flower show. Not only is this a great opportunity for myself and others, but for myself I am grateful to be apart of something that many years ago my great uncle worked at as well. He owned Valley Forge Arborist, just a couple miles outside of Valley Forge National Historical Park and he too had a booth at the Philadelphia Flower Show back in the 1960s.

Unfortunately I do not have any photos to share just yet, but be sure to check back or come and check out the Philadelphia Flower Show yourself from Saturday, March 5 to Sunday, March 13!

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Meet Welles.

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." Joseph Campbell-

Greetings! Allow me to introduce myself... my name is Shauni Kerkhoff. I am currently a senior at Temple University studying criminal justice and psychology. I am also a member of the women's soccer team here at Temple, but enough about me. For you to truly understand who I am and why I want to be a part of the ProRanger Program and the National Park Service, I need you to meet my hero and inspiration for everything that I do in life, Welles Crowther.

He was a tremendous athlete and a giving person, volunteering his time at the local fire station as a volunteer firefighter throughout his high school career. Ever since he was a child, he carried with him a red bandana that his father gave to him. His father told him the bandana stood for courage and Welles took that to heart. He carried that bandana everywhere with him. He always kept the bandana in his back pocket and he even wore it under his lacrosse helmet when he eventually played collegiate lacrosse for Boston College. In fact, Welles had it in his back pocket on September 11, 2001. Welles Crowther was an equities trader at the World Trade Center. His office was on the 103^rd floor of the South Tower. Just after the first passenger plane hit the North Tower, Welles received a call from his college roommate, Howells. Just after Howells hung up with Welles, the second passenger plane hit the South Tower. That was the last the Crowther’s heard from their son.

Months after that horrible day, survival stories began to emerge. Mrs. Crowther was sure to read all of them, in hopes of reading that her son was safe. She read something entirely different. She read multiple stories in which the survivors stated that they were saved by a man in a red bandana. She knew that this mysterious savior was her son. She immediately sent pictures of her son to the survivors that reported being saved by the mysterious man in a red bandana. All survivors confirmed that they were saved by Welles Crowther. There were many acts of heroism that took place in the World Trade Center on the atrocious day, many of which were preformed by Welles. It is reported that Welles not only directed others to safety, he carried others to safety. One of the most heroic acts that was carried out by Welles that day, was the fact that he got several people to safety and then went back up in attempts to save more, without even thinking of his personal safety. Unfortunately, as Welles was ascending back up the stairway of the South Tower, the South Tower collapsed. Welles’ body was found on March 19, 2002 among the debris of the South Tower.

Welles Crowther is an inspiration to us all. What inspires me the most about Welles Crowther is the size of his heart as well as his selflessness. He gave his life in the pursuit to save others. If his heroic acts do not display his altruism, then the job application to be a firefighter for the NYFD that was found in his apartment should do just that. He shared thoughts with his father shortly before he passed about not wanting to be an equities trader anymore. Instead, he wanted to pursue a career as a New York City firefighter. He shared with his father that he just wanted to help people and he was not able to do that in an office. Welles and his heroic actions that day have not only had a significant influence on the lives of those that he saved, he has also been a significant influence in my life since I came across his story in 2011. After watching a documentary about his life and his final heroic acts, I had goose bumps. I was immediately confronted by a vast array of emotions; I was saddened that the world had lost such an amazing human being, but I was also happy for Welles because knowing the person that he was, I do not think that he would have changed a single thing that day. He lived his life to help others and he passed doing just that. He inspires me to do something meaningful with my life. Because of Welles, I have decided to dedicate my life to helping others in some way. He inspires me to be selfless and to put others’ needs ahead of my own and in doing so, he inspires me to be courageous. Because of Welles Crowther, I strive to be altruistic and selfless each and every day. Much like Welles, I simply cannot live my life in an office. I truly believe that Welles regretted not pursuing his true love and passion of firefighting and his story has influenced me to make sure that I have no regrets in life. I want to live a life that makes me happy and helps others in the process. This is why I have decided to be a part of the ProRanger Program.

A picture of Welles in his volunteer firefighter uniform