Over the next 25 days or so I'll be posting about my experience at RMI's Wilderness EMT (W-EMT) course. At over 200 hours of training the next few weeks will be packed and wonderful. I specifically chose RMI over NOLS for the intensity and backcountry aspects of their training. One of the criticism NOLS fans and other outdoor enthusiasts have made of RMI is that they specifically target those seeking careers in the Wilderness. I see this as one of their primary benefits. as they prepare you for the actualities of emergency situations in the backcountry.

Depending on how I come out of this training and after a few years working as a W-EMT I may seek training in a less industrialized setting. I know of several great programs that specialize specifically in preparing a W-EMT in the challenges such a setting provides.

But, for those of you who know me well, you could be asking yourself how I came to this place in my career journey. So, it all begins with a bit of personal history. I started out my college career seeking to join the ministry. Later as I struggled with the realities of such a decision I found myself moving toward academic professions. Perhaps I could be a good professor. . . but, here the realities of how boring such a job would be to me and that realization that my skills as simply a good student wouldn't sustain a career as a professor hit hard.

After transferring schools and tackling everything from English to Biogeochemistry, I found myself loving my Environmental Sciences classes more than I had all those other courses. However, I looked at the career options that a simple BA would afford and my mounting debt and felt that same sense of dissatisfaction and loss about my future. In many ways I was simply treading water; waiting for my eyes to see land or my feet to touch solid ground.

After a seriously bad start to what was looking to be a lousy academic semester I began seeing a counselor and a career counselor. It was through this time of personal growth and struggle I came across careers in the outdoor field. Where I once couldn't see myself doing any particular job for more than a few years, I could finally see myself being happy and content.

So, now I'm heading off to Washington state (just outside Mt Rainier National Park) to train as a W-EMT. After that, we'll just see. . .