I showed up to my first day of Americorps training January 2020 with very few practical skills, but a whole lot of enthusiasm. After we completed our initial training--pack tests, fire courses, and lots more--the real work began. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the physical challenge of field work--even on the days just barely above freezing, cutting trail into frozen mud, or on the hottest, most humid summer days, exhausted from dragging logs across a burn unit in full sun, I felt genuine happiness to be in my body every day alongside my wonderful coworkers. When our carefully planned, highly anticipated projects didn’t happen (IE prescribed burns), we learned quickly to take it with humor. “That’s the job!” is something we said to each other often, when we had to switch gears at the last second, due mostly to the weather. You can’t argue with the wind, the sun, or the rain—you just have to work with whatever they give you. We started working on this adaptable attitude just in time for COVID-19 to undermine almost every planned aspect of the VSCC program. Prescribed burns were shuttered for the year after just one burn in D3, we couldn’t travel, and all in-person training opportunities were either cancelled or made virtual. Within a few days, though, we had a new rhythm—and while everything around us shut down completely, we were able to continue working and growing and learning together. “That’s the job” ended up being one of the most important lessons I learned that year. Whether changing plans at the last instant, quickly learning how to use a new piece of equipment, adapting to a new policy, or coming up with a novel solution to a problem with limited time and materials, “that’s the job” meant that you showed up and you did what you could. Not everything is perfectly under control at all times. You don’t always have the equipment, materials, policies, or people you need. Sometimes, some projects just can’t get done with the available resources. But there is ALWAYS something you CAN do to improve the state of things—and that’s the job. #gratitude #thankyou #virginiastateparks #ilovevirginiastateparks #americorps #americorpsVSCC #VSCC #growth https://www.instagram.com/p/CgzcE0oryrQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=