What is a park interpreter?

My job title is park interpreter.  Whenever this comes up in conversation, the first question is always, “Do you speak Spanish?”   I guess that is a reasonable question, but the ability to speak other languages besides English has very little to do with my day-to-day job duties. 

According to the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), interpretation is “a mission-based communication process that forges emotional and intellectual connections between the interests of the audience and the meanings inherent in the resource.” 

I am not there to interpret a language, but instead to interpret the park itself and the resources that it houses.  I try to take the resources around me and relate them to the visitors in a way that makes it relevant to their own lives.   By helping them connect to the area, I can make it become more than just another dot on the map.   

For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the first structures in the park.  I could present a program that gives all of the facts about the CCC and most of the visitors would leave the program thinking “that was interesting, but who cares?”  It doesn’t really have much to do with their lives.  However, if I give a program that talks about how the CCC brought hope to a nation and how it gave young men a chance to make life better for themselves and their families, it becomes relevant.  We all hope for a better future for ourselves and those we love.  That is something that doesn’t change with time and that we can all relate to.It is often said that people fear what they don’t understand.  It is my hope that by helping people understand about the natural world around them that not only will they no longer fear it, but they will come to enjoy it as much as I do.

And, for those who are curious, I had Spanish in high school but all I can remember now is how to ask where the bathroom is.  Maybe I should put learning Spanish on my to-do list.