By Marcel Robicheaux
The story of why I'm here is the same as how I got here. It's been a long road with plenty of twists and turns. I didn't find the Palouse Land Trust or AmeriCorps fresh out of college, and the journey to get here has been more than a decade. After getting my Bachelor's of Science in organic chemistry and microbiology I left the lab. I was seeking both connection and understanding, and the world in vitro does not compare to the world in situ. So I went to the forest, rivers, mountains, deserts, and oceans.
I taught outdoor education in Maine, led wilderness trips in Utah, then California. I traveled in South America and learned that our cultural perspectives are neither right nor wrong. I found my way back to the northwestern US, spawning chinook on the Salmon river. I taught high school chemistry on a remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean for the Republic of the Marshall Islands and learned that my way of seeing the world was only one of many ways.
I said that I was in search of connection and understanding, but in truth that was only half of it. Both as a child and adult the natural world gave me so much. It gave me a place to play, to explore, to be creative, to be free. As a young adult emerging under the cloud of domestic violence the natural world gave me refuge, gave me a sense of home, solace, peace, and again that sense of freedom. I am grateful for all these gifts, and seek to give back to what has given me so much. That is another part of what I sought: To protect these natural places so that their identity can continue in our changing world.
I used to take for granted the gifts of our undomesticated public lands. Traveling internationally I gained the perspective that in the USA, our natural public lands are one of the most beautiful and important things about this country. Through my time in education I learned that many other people experience significant challenges to enjoying and benefiting from natural places. My desire to serve and protect evolved, to find a way to serve communities and the natural world in a way that ensures what I receive, all may receive.
My Journey here has not been easy, and at times it has been marked with significant failure and rejection. These things could crush a person, but with the right support they can instead shape us into diamonds. Without loving friends and community I surely would have been crushed, and so I can only partly claim credit for finding my way here. One such friend introduced me to the possibility of service to AmeriCorps. Amidst a myriad of possibility I selected an opportunity with the Palouse Land Trust and Idaho Firewise, helping conserve lands from development, protect them from disaster, work with the local community in education and outreach, and improve both physical and socially equitable access. I hope now, after reading how I got here, you understand how magical it feels to enter into this particular opportunity to serve.
Now, in beginning to serve through AmeriCorps, working for the Palouse Land Trust and Idaho Firewise, I see an intricate and nuanced field where I have much to learn, and where my amazing and exemplary mentors are themselves continuing to develop and grow. Like everywhere I've been, I serve and at the same time am served. I am excited to learn more about private land conservation, about encouraging resilient natural landscapes, finances, fundraising to pursue these objectives, and how to remove obstacles for diverse access and creating equitable access opportunities.
This service term is one year. It is an incredible opportunity and the expiration date has an effect on my life here. Right now my path is still wide open. If I am fortunate enough carry on with my journey perhaps I will be able to stay, to dive in deeper to the world of private land trusts and community outreach. I also won't forget that not only the land, but the people of the Marshall Islands, and Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia have taught me much. My debt to the world grows deeper, and with it my desire to serve.