Sam, you have been a Restoration Assistant with the Outdoor Leadership Corps program since Fall of 2024, and have evolved to Assistant Crew Leader! How has your impression of this workforce program changed?
When I got hired in fall last year, it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting; I expected hard work cleaning green spaces in the city, and nothing else. And while that’s a big part of the program, there’s also a lot you can learn about job hunting, tools of the trade, and meeting people who work in the environmental field in St. Louis. At first, I just focused myself on the day-to-day labor, cutting up plants in the woods, but not putting much value in that workforce development side of the program, because that was unexpected; I didn’t know what to do with it. But last season and this season especially I took advantage of that and learned a lot of valuable skills and took time to find jobs that interest me. I also liked working in different places more than I was expecting. When we work, we mainly do so on walking/biking trails built by our partner organization, Great Rivers Greenway; being in a new place every few weeks working on the same type of trail made every new site look familiar; like it was part of St. Louis, not just the next place we had to work at.
What projects this season have left you the most inspired and why?
My all-time favorite project is definitely Cliff Cave Park, mainly because it’s where we’ve removed the most invasives. You can see that a lot of work was put in to make it look like that. This season, we worked with AmeriCorps St. Louis to clear out 20ft tall bush honeysuckle shrubs in front of the parking lot, and after walking past that part of the woods for 2 previous seasons, seeing it cleared was absolutely cathartic. Duckett Creek is also a beautiful piece of land that restoring just felt very fulfilling to do.
What are the top skills that OLC taught you and which skills do you think are the most valuable?
Communication is key. I know that’s a simple one to bring up, but it’s true. If you don’t communicate with your crew on the site or off, people can waste time, get hurt, or not learn how to do things properly. I know because I did all of those at some point and made sure to work on it this season especially. I also think collaboration is something that everyone needs more of. Asking for help doesn’t make you a bad worker, it makes you a smart worker. And if someone asks if you need help, it’s more likely they’re doing so in good faith than making a comment on your work ethic. Be friendly!
How is serving as the Assistant Crew Leader different from your previous seasons as a Restoration Assistant?
There are more responsibilities for this position and longer hours, so I was intimidated at first, especially about the leadership component, which is NOT my strong suit. But this program is about workforce development, so I challenged myself and over time I got more confident in my skills. I led volunteer groups and sometimes the crew itself, and it’s a lot less intimidating to do that kind of thing for me now. I also had a lot more opportunity to attend training courses and shadow professionals in the field during paid hours, which was awesome. I also had a lot of fun working on my “final project” that each ACL does; I made a map showing everywhere OLC has worked in the last 5 seasons or so.
It’s obvious that this program is a benefit to your professional path moving forward – has OLC impacted your personal life outside of working?
DEFINITELY. For the past few years, I’ve been going through a weird transitional period in my life – trying to move out, going to school part time, and finding out what I like to do most, in my career and in my personal life. OLC gave me the freedom to achieve all of that. It gave me solid pay for doing something I loved, was directly applicable to my schoolwork, and I had time to learn a lot about myself in between. I’m happy to say since I started here, I’ve now got an apartment, a degree, and a much better frame of mind than I had a year and a half ago. If not for the stability I got from this program, I don’t think those things would have happened as easily.
Curious on if the Outdoor Leadership Corps is the right fit for you? You can learn more here!