This semester is an odd one from the Public History standpoint. I'm not taking any history classes. This semester my courses are Advanced GIS and Archives. Two classes that finish up my coursework for the MA, but don't actually contain any history work. The archives class is an interesting one. In my time with the ALPL I've had dealings with the archivist and gone over various aspects of the collection and how they should be held in the library. These conversations dealt with both the audio/visual materials as well as the documentation and transcripts of the interviews.
For the GIS class I'm working on building my skill set, as well as putting together part of the project that will eventually build part of my thesis. I'm also working on my topic proposal and defense this semester. To say that it is an interesting semester is an understatement. I'm working in an archive, still waiting to start my job with the guard and doing an online class. All and all it 's a departure from my life for the first three semesters of this degree. What's all this have to do with my future plans as a historian, well that's a good question. If you had asked me before January 20th what I expected to do once I'm done with all this I would have told you that I was looking to return to what I saw as my calling, the National Park Service. In the wake of the Trump administration's policies and the response of my brothers and sisters in the Green and Grey. I'm not sure that there will be a place for me, not for my lack of a desire to return. But because I feel that the NPS will be under attack from this administration and the funding will remain scarce and jobs within the service will be hard to come by. I still hold out hope that my flat hat will once again grace my head, and that I will be able to introduce myself to the thousands of visitors that I interact with as Ranger Steve, the question remains when that will occur. Maybe, there will be a change in the forecast. I finish my Military obligation in 2022, by then there might be a place for me at one of the parks that are on my list. Maybe it will be a new park, or a park that I hadn't even thought of going to yet. But the Park Service remains close to my heart, and those that wear the flat hat are always in my prayers. Keep up the good fight fellow Rangers, I'll join you soon. -Ranger Steve
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The Ranger SteveThough I'm no longer found underneath the Flat Hat of the NPS I still find myself identifying as Ranger Steve more often than not. Archives
January 2017
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