Robert Vessels
Military and Veteran Coordinator
Sierra Club
Sierra Club
Military and Veteran Coordinator
I help service members, vets, and their families gain the confidence to lead in the outdoors.
I recently spent five days kayaking an Alaskan river with a few fellow vets, just hanging out, talking about life, being active, learning, and living off of the land...and that was "work!" A couple of these vets were a few years ahead of me in their transition out of the military, so it was a mutually beneficial experience—I had a lot to teach these guys about the outdoors, and they had a lot to teach me about post-military life. Plus, working in the Alaskan outdoors? You can't beat that.
Here's the first step for professionals
If you have a general idea of what you want to do, put yourself out there and network. I originally thought I was going to work for a government agency after I got my degree, but as I got further and further into my studies, my plans changed. A park ranger position had always seemed like a good idea, so I started plotting out how I could make that happen instead. In the end, it all came down to me using my connections and doing an informational interview with the man who would become my boss.
"You're not smart enough to get into UC Berkeley."