Lisa's Open Road

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LISA ECKERT

Superintendant
Devil's Tower National Monument

“I would look inside, see what gets you all excited to get up in the morning, and then see if you can find something in that realm.”

In high school, her friends' siblings were working and backpacking in Yellowstone National Park.
She loved the outdoors, and she developed an interest specifically in the West and in the National Parks Service.
Spent a number of years working as a seasonal ranger, but when she turned thirty, she felt the pressure to get a "permanent" job.
Applied to countless permanent positions; joked that she could've papered her walls with the rejection letters.
Was living out of her car; finally thought, "if I don't get accepted to the next job I apply to, I need to find something else to to do."
Luckily, she found a permanent position with the NPS, an agency that she says she really believes in.
Feels lucky that she found what "makes her tick," but says she'd be the first to admit that her job is not easy.
Says she still doesn't know what she wants to be when she "grows up," but she's perfectly happy with her current career.