01/28/2024
Throwing it wayyyy back to 2015! I started earlier that year, but took these photos later in the summer. Theyāre the first and only pictures I have from that first 6 months. Why? Well I wasnāt sure if treework was my thing yet. I wasnāt passionate about it yet the way I later became. To be honest, at first I just saw it as a job. I had applied while in one of my college courses (I graduated from OSU with a forestry & wildlife degree.) A local tree service sent an ad to one of my professors. I read it and, on a whim, applied. I had no idea what it really involved. I knew nothing about arboriculture and especially climbing (different from forestry), aside from tree biology stuff. The reason I applied was really out of desperation š I NEEDED a job before graduation that upcoming December, and I thought why not since it still involves trees!
I canāt remember what kind of help the ad was asking for, but I ended up mostly doing ground work (as it should be for any newbie). Mind you, I had never used tools, was not mechanically inclined, and never in my life imagined myself using a chainsaw. I felt in over my head. I often felt silly even going to work, feeling as if I didnāt really belong and questioning if it was the right fit for me. Going in so green and as a young girl fresh out of college was intimidating to say the least. My confidence at the time was a lot different than it is now. I also didnāt know if this job was even something women did (sounds silly now, I know). I didnāt follow any tree work social media pages or know of other ladies in the field. I definitely had my own ingrained bias against myself as a female in the beginning. But, I kept showing up. I kept learning new skills, became more confident with the saw, chipper, etc. Luckily this company was small. The crew was only myself, my mentor, and one other new climber most days. They needed help, bad, so I got a lot of one on one training from an experienced person. Low and behold, I started to realize that I was picking up these things relatively easily, and each day or new skill to learn became less scary. I was even good at many things. By the end of the summer my mentor asked if I was interested in climbing. At first I thought to myself, no way, but then decided why not! I wasnāt doing any production work by any means, but I was able to be introduced to basic climbing systems that summer. The second picture is of a day in August that I spent dropping dead ash trees by myself (I felt so proud that I was trusted to do so at the time š„²š). Overall, my confidence increased so much that year proving to myself I could do something that I never imagined.
Sometimes I think back and wonder what got into me at the time to apply to this job, but Iām thankful for that spontaneous decision every day!
