By Jessica Zamudio

I first heard about Latino Outdoors when I was a National Park Service Academy member in 2015. NPSA is a program run through the Student Conservation Association, which focuses on building connections between underrepresented youth and the National Parks. Through my experiences with organizations like these I have had the great privilege of learning about our public lands and building strong relationships with these incredible, wild spaces.

I grew up in Broward County, Florida. My family comes from all over. My mom came from Warsaw, Poland when she was in her twenties and my dad came from Bogota, Colombia. Growing up, we didn’t do many outdoorsy things. We didn’t go camping or hiking, once in a while we made it over to the beach to go swimming but aside from that we didn’t get a lot of exposure to nature. It was later on, when I was in college that I started to become interested in expanding my horizons and exploring the places around me. That is when I really began developing a deeper relationship with nature.

I had moved to an area of central Florida where there was a lot more undeveloped land and a much more country kind of life style. While driving down the highway I would pass wide, open pastures, old orange groves and pine forests. Sometimes I would drive through, what I would later discover, was a state park. I’d stay in my car and just admire the astounding pine flat woods and hope to see a deer. Eventually, I got up the nerve to put on some sneakers and try out one of the hiking trails at St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park. At first, I was terrified. I didn’t go very far. I was sure that a giant rattlesnake or a huge panther would jump out of the saw palmettos and I’d be done for. Despite my apprehensions about this totally new world, I felt a feeling I’d never felt in my life there. I felt true peace. I felt a quiet, a stillness that the city had never offered my spirit. I kept going back there, and each time I did, my curiosity grew and eventually I got to a point where I wanted more. I wanted to know how I could spend my life in these places. I didn’t know much about wildlife or the plants and trees but something deep within me told me to keep going.

In 2014, a quick Google search landed me on the Student Conservation Association’s website. I found an article about the National Park Service Academy and its mission to connect students from all walks of life with the National Parks through internship programs. I applied, and in the spring of 2015, I was flown out to the Grand Teton National Park where I would spend the week with strangers from all over the country, learning about and exploring the park. We met with park superintendents, rangers and even the first African American director of the National Park Service, Robert Stanton. The amazing team of mentors walked us through the foundation of National Park Service culture and inspired us with their own personal stories. We went snowshoeing, took a wagon ride through the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, and met a Native American tribe from the region who shared with us their traditional dance and drum ceremony. That week changed my life and the opportunities to come would only further solidify my love for the wild.

That summer, I would continue the second portion of my internship at Yosemite National Park as the Video Production and Social Media Intern. It was there that I met Parks in Focus. This Udall Foundation program connects underserved youth to the parks through summer camping trips. Each child is given a digital camera and throughout the week learns about digital photography and the outdoors. I had the honor of featuring this program in a Sony funded video project. I was so moved by these kids; their openness, their curiosity. Some of them shared with me how new all this was to them, how they had never seen a place like this before and never imagined this kind of place even existed. I realized that I was just like them, just a little older. We were all there, a part of these vital diversity programs, being introduced to the mountains and the clean, fresh air for the first time. Learning to love the earth in a totally new way. The seeds of stewardship were being planted and watered there. Future conservationists were being made.

Today, I continue my journey with the wilderness. I currently serve as a member of the Florida Conservation Corps in Ocala, Florida. I am the Project R.O.A.R. (Regional Outreach and Awareness Recruiters) member for District 3 of the Florida Park Service. My goals are to recruit new volunteers for Florida State Parks and AmeriCorps as well as to educate the public about Florida’s natural world. Because of the generosity that programs like NSPA showed me, I carry on the mission to connect underrepresented populations to the parks in hopes of developing the same kind of love that I have for these amazing natural spaces. I work with what I have. For now, I do small things, like making bi-lingual flyers and targeting organizations and individuals in underserved communities to connect with. In a previous position at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, I was able to utilize grant funding the park had, to connect with an organization that serves the homeless. With the support of the park, I organized a day of hiking, swimming and picnicking for the summer camp kids at no cost to the organization. I am grateful to hear that the partnership has grown since I left and they continue to return to the park in the summer for a day of outdoor recreation.

I’m not sure where my journey will lead next but I am so excited to continue exploring, learning and sharing these amazing wild places with people from all walks of life. I hope to continue to learn from the example of the pioneers of organizations like Latino Outdoors, so that I too can contribute to expanding the accessibility and inclusivity of parks to a wider array of people.

To learn more about Jessica visit her Instagram page.

Vamos Outdoors!