por Albert Arévalo
New Horizons
Growing up in South Texas, I never thought too much about my identity or socioeconomic status. Despite being a minority, the majority of the residents from Brownsville, TX, 94%, identify as Latinx. Similarly, my low-income experience was one that was shared by many of my friends and relatives. Because of it, I utilized something that was free and always available to me, my imagination. I remember exploring el monte with my neighbor Richie, and we’d both spend hours surveying the land and pretending we were Power Rangers. Additionally, our proximity to the US-Mexico border meant that I could easily traverse between two countries, something that I recognize as a luxury and privilege.
Before his passing, my grandfather owned and operated his own construction business, Grúas Valdez. My cousin and I would routinely spend our weekends with my grandparents in Matamoros, Mexico, and we would use my grandfather’s mechanic shop as our own personal playground. In hindsight, it wasn’t safe, and I would not recommend it, but on the rare occasions my grandfather pulled himself away from work, he would bring us along on one of his many fishing trips to Playa Bagdad. Because he was a talented welder, he was able to construct and convert the back of his white Ford pickup to a truck camper, with bunk beds. To date, one of my favorite memories is waking up to the smell of the ocean and watching my grandfather fish. After several fishing trips, I began to notice how my grandfather’s demeanor changed from his typical fast-paced no-break perception of life to fully being relaxed. His place of respite was the beach, and his love for fishing always lured him back to the outdoors.
Unknowingly, these childhood experiences would ultimately shape my own love for the outdoors and encourage me to pursue a career in the outdoors. After graduating from Texas State University (Go Bobcats!) with a bachelor’s in sociology, I decided to take a giant leap of faith and move to Washington, DC. At the time, I felt prepared to tackle the world, but I had no clue how I would go about it. I’d be lying if I said it was easy because it was not. I spent my first few years working odd jobs, and one morning I decided to take a detour and came across a welcome sign for Rock Creek Park. The building was closed, but a ranger opened the building. I spoke to Ranger Einberger, and I mentioned my interest in volunteering my time at the park. He shared his interest in expanding their programmatic and outreach efforts to reach the Latinx community, and I gladly jumped at the opportunity. Thereafter, I’d spend every weekend working the front desk welcoming visitors, and leading environmental programs in Spanish! While I led programs in Spanish, I realized that I rarely interacted with other individuals who looked like me and were doing environmental work as a career. With a click of a mouse and various key phrases later, I stumbled across an interesting organization, Latino Outdoors.
I read about their work, their mission, their vision, and discovered that they had a local presence in DC, so I emailed them and eagerly waited for their response. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long and heard back from Nydia Gutierez. She invited me to one of their outings to meet the team and learn more about their local work. I was already sold from what I read about the organization online, but meeting other individuals who shared similar interests was refreshing. After that first outing, I shared my interest in the organization and my commitment to reconnecting other individuals to the outdoors. The universe works in mysterious ways because Nydia and I are both from Brownsville and coincidently went to the same high school –we actually graduated a year apart! Also, the other individual that I worked alongside would become an elected official in Congress and represent New Mexico District 2, Gabe Vasquez. I consider myself extremely fortunate that both Gabe and Nydia took me under their wing and allowed me to grow as a professional and as a person.
For the last seven years, I’ve had the opportunity to represent the organization and work with others in engaging and reconnecting underrepresented individuals to the outdoors. Through kayaking, backpacking, hiking, trail running, camping, and many other activities, we’ve served the mission of Latino Outdoors in the DC area. Our work would not be successful if it weren’t for our amazing partner and our local community. The individuals that attend our outings entrust us to introduce them to new experiences and, most importantly, to have fun. Moreover, our outings provide visible representation by reclaiming our narratives in physical and digital spaces. Above all, Latino Outdoors is a community, so if you see us, stop by and join us.
Albert works as an environmental consultant and volunteers as the DMV Program Coordinator for Latino Outdoors. Albert is committed to increasing access to the Latinx community to public lands and educating students about opportunities for careers in the environmental field. Albert is a Senior Chesapeake Regional Fellow for the Environmental Leadership Program and leads the DEIJ committee for the establishment of a new National Park, the Chesapeake National Recreation Area. He has a bachelors in Sociology from Texas State University and is completing his masters in Sociology from New Mexico State University. He currently lives in Maryland with his husband, Lisandro, and his two dogs Bruno and Camila, and as a family, they love exploring and visiting National Parks.