My first introduction to National Parks was in 1978. I was 21 years old, working for a large animal vet, and had achieved my goal of saving up $1,000 to travel across the country. I quit my job, hopped in the car with my dog and hit the road! The first park I visited was Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota. I then went on to Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Grand Teton and Yellowstone - I fell in love. From there I travelled to California where I visited Sequoia, King’s Canyon, and Yosemite and then drove north to Crater Lake in Oregon. This experience really touched my heart. It made me realize that our National Parks are a true treasure that I wanted to continue to explore.
I went on to work as a sign language interpreter in Rochester, NY for 26 years and had been thinking about retirement. It was my goal that when I retired from interpreting, I would go work for the National Park Service. But I needed to figure out how to get my foot in the door. I was off work during November 2021 recovering from surgery, so I decided to start applying to national parks. I didn’t know what job I wanted, so I started applying to a variety of positions. The only responses I got were for dispatching. Part of my time as an interpreter, I worked for a video relay service. I think that may have been what made the connection with dispatch. I interviewed with Glacier National Park and was offered a seasonal position and I said to myself, “I can’t turn this down!"
It was serendipitous because I had never done any dispatching. I knew a 911 dispatcher sent police and firemen to different locations, but I didn’t know the ins and outs of the process, the technology, or the park! It was very overwhelming- a steep learning curve and very fast paced. There is a lot that occurs in a million-acre park! It was a lot of indoor office time, but I was able to get out and see the park because it was necessary for my job. It doesn’t matter which park I’m working in, if someone calls needing emergency services or assistance of any kind, and gives me a location, I need to know where that is. I take it upon myself at every opportunity to get out there and see the park, meet the people, and really get to know the place.
After the season at Glacier, I returned to work in Rochester and realized it was time to move my retirement date up a few months. Going out to Glacier and working as a dispatcher was my foot in the door and that is what brought me to Mount Rushmore as well. I don’t where I’ll go next, but I would like to check out the Interpretation division because I love interacting with the public and hearing visitors’ stories! I’m learning so much and I’m so excited that I want to share that excitement and the information I’m learning with them.
I feel like I’m catching up. I put my life on hold for a long time for different reasons and I feel like this is where I’m meant to land and now, I’m doing it. I encourage people to not just say, “Oh, I’m going to do this or do that." Do it now, you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Make the leap and go for it. I had a woman walk by me recently while I was on duty standing on the Grand View Terrace and she said, “You got my dream job!" and I said, “I got my dream job!""
Julie Lindsay is currently a dispatcher at Mount Rushmore National Memorial and has also worked at Glacier National Park.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service