Future.  Definately future.  With my schooling in full swing I'm looking forward to being done with my degree, and looking towards taxes so maybe I can start to pull myself out of some of this debt that school has put me in. 

But more than that, I've been thinking about what I want to or can do with my newly aquired Masters.  Lately I have not felt as satified with my job.  I need to find new ways to expand our programming and offer activities that really make an impact on the kids I work with.  Where do I go next?

I'm glad the holidays are over...too much focus on stuff.  And in the middle of winter, when I don't get outside as much with the cold weather.  Nothing to balance me when I get stressed.  Thank goodness for the meditation room and the wonderful forest sounds I'm listening to right now. 

Stress will only get worse in weeks to come as my classes get back into full swing and my work programs pick back up.  I've also decided that money should really be a four letter word.  2009 looks to be full time at work, full time going to school and remodeling a house.  Busy, busy and busy.

Relieved, tired, warm.

 

• 1. My purpose is to educate people about the environment and to foster a passion for protecting nature in our youth.
• 2. I love nature and I love sharing my interest in the environment with others. As a Naturalist in Iowa I have the opportunity combine both while working in and introducing others to the outdoors. I believe that it is vital for the next generation to form connections with the world around them. Too many kids, even in the rural area I live in, do not spend much time outside working or playing. They've been cut off from nature. They cannot name birds or flowers living in their own backyards. I have been told that I am a great teacher and that my passion and excitement spreads to the groups I do environmental education programs with. My hope is that by introducing them to the outdoors, showing them that nature is fun in structured and unstructured ways, it will spark a growing curiosity in the plants, animals and systems at work around them and they will want to learn about it. As the quote by Baba Dioum states "In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught." If I can begin teaching those lessons to the people that attend my programs then I know I will be helping improve and protect the environment long into the future.
• 3. I am one of the luckiest people on the planet because on many days I am already doing my ideal job working for a local Conservation Board. I am devoting my life to connecting people to nature, focusing on their local habitat. I love doing outdoor programs, and if I could I would never spend time in the office or sitting at a compute. Instead, I would spend every day with a different group outside in one of our parks or natural areas. I would go on canoe trips down the Cedar River with a group of 6^th graders or lead a night hike with families of all ages. I would plant tallgrass prairie and then spend time showing high school students what many of the flowers were used for by the Native Americans or Pioneers. I would play round after round of "Predator-Prey" and only stop when everyone was tired of running and hiding and then I would take the kids fishing. My job allows me to do these things two or three times a week, the rest of the time being spent doing program preparations, PR work, grant writing and reports. At my ideal job I would never use a piece of paper again, unless it was to make an origami bat that could really flap its wings. After all, that's what really gets kids to not be afraid of them anymore.