色中色

For many 色中色 students, visiting Yosemite is a relaxing way to spend a weekend. But for several 色中色 students, the past weekend was extremely hectic and a little nerve-wracking 鈥� but full of pride 鈥� as they helped host President Barack Obama and the first family.

鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 tell us we were going to meet the president until just a few hours before,鈥� senior cognitive science student and Ranger Jessica Rivas said. 鈥淚t was an amazing honor.鈥�

Rivas is one of the rangers who works for the park through the (WEC) on campus. Former and current WEC and (YLP) members 鈥� including rangers Moses Chun and Maya Nielsen 鈥� played pivotal roles in the weekend鈥檚 many events, from greeting and organizing invited guests and giving talks about the park to offering educational programs for area schoolchildren that President Obama participated in.

鈥淭he students have simply been integrated into the staff and the park,鈥� Yosemite Public Affairs Officer Scott Gediman said. 鈥淭hey are very important to us, and we are very proud of them.鈥�

By necessity, only those who needed to know ahead of time knew any details of the president鈥檚 visit.

鈥淚 did not know the president was going to see me working, so I wasn鈥檛 nervous because giving programs is part of my everyday job,鈥� alumna and Ranger Alejandra Guzman said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until Friday that I learned he was going to attend part of the program Jessica and I were giving, and give each fourth-grader a park pass. Then I was so nervous, excited 鈥� and awestruck!鈥�

Obama and his family 鈥� first lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha 鈥� spent part of their vacation in Yosemite. Obama is the first sitting president since John F. Kennedy to visit the park.

鈥淗onestly, I think one of the best things about this visit was not that the president came to Yosemite, but that he brought his family,鈥� WEC Ranger Aricia Martinez said. 鈥淥f course, it is amazing to have the sitting president visit our park, and to have him be such a strong advocate for national parks. But both Malia and Sasha are brilliant young women who are going to be great leaders someday, and our parks will need the next generation of leaders to be our voices.鈥�

Meeting the First Family

Welcoming the First Family is a distinction that many of the park鈥檚 1,000 employees helped with. But when it came time to choose rangers from about 100 who work for Yosemite to represent the park for this historic event, park leaders 鈥� including Superintendent Don Neubacher 鈥� put their faith in students and alumni from 色中色.

The students all agreed it was an honor to meet the Obama family. They got to watch the president鈥檚 helicopter land in the valley and shook hands with all the Obamas as they took their first steps into Yosemite.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to go to an event to meet the president, to seek him out. But it鈥檚 very different when you get to welcome him to your park, in uniform, to show him what you鈥檝e helped build. That鈥檚 really special,鈥� said Chun, who started as a WEC ranger while at 色中色 and now works for the National Park Service. 鈥淚 also got to meet the First Lady (who was the commencement speaker in 2009), and tell her 鈥榳elcome back.鈥� It gave her the chance to see there are connections between Yosemite and our university.鈥�

Rivas, who was the focus of a popular 色中色 video highlighting students, had a d茅j脿 vu moment with the president. He had seen the video, and told her she looked familiar to him.

鈥淚 said 鈥榊es, you look familiar to me, too,鈥欌�� she said, laughing. 鈥淭hey were just very nice, and very down-to-Earth.鈥�

Greetings done, though, it was time to get to work preparing for Obama鈥檚 speech, making sure the family got recreational time in the park and showing the family the rangers鈥� work.

Rivas and Guzman were selected to teach an hour-long class to at-risk fourth-graders from Livingston and the Bay Area. Rivas based her portion on curriculum Martinez wrote for Merced鈥檚 branch of the White House鈥檚 Every Kid in a Park (EKiP) program, while Guzman presented a program on Yosemite鈥檚 history as a national park. EKiP brought 1,300 fourth-graders from the Merced City School District to Yosemite throughout the school year.

Because Obama put forth the EKiP initiative, Yosemite wanted the First Family to see the program in action.

鈥淚n the same way that EKiP is so powerful because it is creating the next generation of advocates and stewards 鈥� this visit has set the tone for the future protection of our parks,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淗opefully, our program was just the beginning of a lifelong relationship between these schoolchildren and our national parks. That way no matter where they go in the world, they will always be advocates and stewards of our parks.鈥�

Near the end of the program, the Obamas arrived to watch and take part as the children demonstrated what they had learned, including how to scare away a bear.

The fourth-graders had no idea they were going to get a presidential visit.

鈥淥ne little girl just burst into tears,鈥� Gediman said. 鈥淭he president sat down with the kids, and he and the First Lady had their picture taken with a little girl whose birthday it was.鈥�

The Face of the Park

The presidential visit was a prime opportunity show off some of the partnerships 色中色 and Yosemite have formed, including the Wilderness Education Center and YLP. The two-year program helps students become leaders and environmental stewards, and gives them invaluable experience as they live and work in the park and work on campus. YLP is a partnership between the National Park Service, the university and the Yosemite Conservancy, which provides significant financial support for both the Wilderness Education Center and the Yosemite Leadership Program.

The National Park Service employs the student rangers and runs the student-staffed Wilderness Education Center, which teaches awareness about and experiences with natural and cultural resources in Yosemite to students, faculty, staff and community members in and around 色中色.

Graduating from 色中色 and the rigorous Yosemite Leadership Program Summer Internship program makes students eligible for direct hire by any Department of the Interior land-management agency. Guzman is one of those hires.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 say enough about the education center rangers. They are the future of the National Park Service,鈥� Gediman said.

But for one weekend, they were something else, too.

鈥淭hey became the faces of Yosemite for the president of the United States,鈥� he said.

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See the video President Obama watched to learn about one of the students he met last weekend: