Career Roadmap
Heather's work combines: Education, Environment & Nature, and Teaching / Mentoring
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
Whittier College
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Park Naturalists:
Graduate Degree: Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
In between college I wasn't sure it was right for me. I joined a theatre group and traveled.
2.
Touring was the best thing to ever happen to me, I took a new road and finished my degree.
3.
I got the hell out of college and worked hard to get into the LA Zoo for work.
4.
From there it wasn't a fit, I wanted more so I went to the desert and worked on greenhouses.
5.
My boss in the desert was a wacko.. I left and got a job at the nature center.
6.
I have never been so happy than when I am teaching about nature.
7.
It was a long road to take me where I really wanted to be.
8.
I went from theatre to biology .. Who knew?
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Family:
You should really finish your degree and major in business so you have something to "fall back" on. So they were telling me I was going to fail my dreams and to just settle for a cookie cutter life.
How I responded:
Listen, if we all became a boring cardboard cutout of what society or your parents are telling you to be, you will be recycled fast, you will hate your life. You will then push that bitterness to your job you hate and to the parents that "made" you do it. Who knows, your built up anger could push you over the edge into a person no one likes. I am telling you my whole life I was pushed into doing " greater things" but to me what's greater than teaching our future generations to love the earth?
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I still am paying off my student loans but I am happy and healthy. I am not stressed out all the time so I don't have to pay high medical bills or take high blood pressure pills. In the end I win. Quality of life!!!!! I just ate less and saved.