- School scholar Rebecca Bergmaier labored on the Grand Canyon whereas managing a distant internship.
- She labored the internship within the mornings and her different job within the evenings. She camped on weekends.
- Bergmaier stated she’d suggest working in a nationwide park for the summer season to different faculty college students.
This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Rebecca Bergmaier, a university senior at Temple College in Philadelphia finding out enterprise administration and advertising. She labored a full-time summer season job on the Grand Canyon whereas additionally managing a part-time internship. This story has been edited for size and readability.
I am from Pennsylvania initially and go to highschool in Philadelphia, the place I am finding out enterprise administration and advertising. I wished to get open air, and in 2022 I heard about CoolWorks, which is a very nice web site to search out seasonal work positions.
At the moment I would solely been to 2 nationwide parks and I wasn’t actually an avid camper or hiker. I used to be on the lookout for one thing in my dream park, Yellowstone Nationwide Park, which I hadn’t been to but.
I discovered the corporate Xanterra Journey Assortment, a concessionaire that operates within the park. I initially utilized for a meals and beverage place, however they really had a paid internship program. So since I am finding out enterprise, I did their hospitality administration internship in the summertime of 2023 in Yellowstone earlier than my junior yr.
Then, in the summertime of 2024, earlier than my senior yr, I went to work for Xanterra on the Grand Canyon. I labored on the entrance desk of a lodge. I additionally had a part-time, paid, distant place as a social media intern for my faculty’s enterprise faculty.
I labored all day however camped on my days off
I used to be working all day lengthy in the course of the week, however I nonetheless obtained a lot pleasure from it.
I did a 40-hour week on the entrance desk of the lodge. Most of my shifts had been within the night, so I usually labored from 2 to 10 p.m. I am an evening owl, so I preferred being out late. I had to make use of my headlamp strolling dwelling. You’d additionally see so many stars as a result of the Grand Canyon is a Darkish Sky Park, which signifies that there’s just about no lighting in your complete park.
The Grand Canyon is just about like a built-out group, with a library, financial institution, and hospital, so within the mornings I might go to the library, which was so pretty and air conditioned. I might simply arrange my laptop and do my internship work from there. Generally I might even sit on my laptop computer exterior the library if it was good out.
So I might do my internship within the morning, then I would go to work, after which on my weekends I might usually take two or three days off and simply go into the woods and camp. Or my pal and I might highway journey to different areas of Arizona, like Sedona.
There’s quite a lot of faculty youngsters who’re working seasonally on the nationwide parks within the summers. There’s additionally older individuals and also you meet individuals from all around the world. You make so many buddies, as a result of all people builds a group collectively. You might be additionally usually supplied with lodging and meals, relying on the job.
It is a good way for faculty college students to spend a summer season
I am unsure what I wish to do after I graduate subsequent yr, however I’ve been on the lookout for positions away from the parks. I am primarily based on the East Coast and I’ve quite a lot of connections within the Philadelphia sustainability scene and the sustainable enterprise community right here.
I might positively suggest different college students look into spending a summer season at nationwide park. You get to maneuver out to the center of nowhere and it may be so pretty to sort of go off the grid.
It is also a tremendous option to journey. You might be usually supplied with someplace to stay for the entire summer season and all of your meals. So it is positively a handy option to journey.
I really feel like quite a lot of faculty college students fantasize about simply dropping out of faculty and residing in the course of the wilderness. It is positively a good way to fulfill that craving.
