For many people, a summer job may mean lifeguarding, waitressing, nannying or even interning. For me, my summer job was one of the hardest, but most rewarding things I have ever done. I learned so much about myself, and even though I struggled every day at work throughout the summer, I wouldn’t trade it for anything because that summer transformed me as an individual. I was a wildland firefighter for the Lolo National Forest.
Now, when most people who aren’t familiar with wildfires hear ‘wildland firefighter’ they usually think a structural firefighter with the red fire truck and a Dalmatian with his red helmet helping alongside. But that’s far from what we do. My job was hard, physical labor, involving chainsaws, intense hiking in the middle of the summer heat, every single day, eight hours a day. It took every ounce of my mental and physical strength to do my job at the best of my abilities. During a fire, my crew and I would work 16-hour days, digging line around the flames until it was fully contained, then continued to mop up the flames until the fire was completely out. I slept on the ground, in only a sleeping bag. I did not shower for 5 consecutive days. I had hiked until sweat dripped off of my eyelashes and I had salt stains on my shirt by the end of the day. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments.
I was one out of five girls on my fire crew of 30 people, and I was the biggest sissy of the five by far. Even though I was proud of my accomplishments, they pushed me to be better and always do my best at work every day. My crew is what made every day enjoyable. (that’s me in the tye dye in the middle)
Now that the summer is over and I look back at what I have done, I feel like I can do anything. I am one of the last people anyone would expect to work on a fire crew, and I struggled the entire time, but I learned so much about myself that I wouldn’t trade the summer for anything. I now have a new found self confidence that cannot be broken. (I mean, HELLO, I am certified to cut down trees now!) If you’re ever given a chance to step outside of your comfort zone, take an opportunity you’re not so sure about, go for it. Take any chance you get. Even if it’s scary, difficult, or you’re just plain terrible at it like I was, those opportunities give you the greatest chance for you to transform into the greatest person you could possibly be.