Alumna Kinley Cook brings passion to job as park guide
Kinley Cook
By Cam Adams
As a park guide at Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland, Kinley Cook鈥檚 passion for the outdoors radiates to her visitors. She gets them excited about where they鈥檙e at, whether it be by way of the park鈥檚 history or showing them a salamander that鈥檚 sitting under a random rock along its trail.
But at her office desk is something that the 甜瓜视频app alumna holds dear: a photo of her five-year-old self as a junior ranger.
鈥淚t reminds me that what I do is important, it's impactful and that it does change lives,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淩anger Hartman Maunz took time with me. I get to take time with these kids and do the same thing.鈥�
Cook wouldn鈥檛 trade her job for the world, but prior to her time at WCU, the Raleigh native wasn鈥檛 quite sure what career path she wanted to take. So after still being left with that question after community college, Cook found a job at a summer camp 鈥� and something clicked.
鈥淚 was like 鈥極h my gosh. This is awesome. This is great. I wish I could do this forever,鈥欌�� Cook said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 quite click that there are careers you can have in recreation where you鈥檙e doing that 24/7 all the time, that is your career.鈥�
That鈥檚 when Cook looked into public lands and landed a job at Goose Creek State Park in eastern North Carolina. Soon after, Cook enrolled at WCU as a parks and recreation management major and interned at Gorges State Park in Sapphire.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥極h, this is what I want to do. This is what鈥檚 for me,鈥欌�� Cook said. 鈥淢y job (at Goose Creek) was very maintenance based. I got to do some programming, but I just loved it. I loved the fact that I got to work outside. I loved the maintenance work. I loved all of it.鈥�
While Cook knew Cullowhee is where she wanted to be given her love for the mountains and deep connections with the area, she was a bit nervous. It had been five years since she graduated high school when she started at WCU, so she was a little older than her peers.
Then at the last minute, Cook, a 鈥渧ery outdoorsy鈥� and 鈥渧ery tomboy鈥� gal, took a chance on Greek life.
She loved it and the people that came with it, too. She became passionate about where she was, whether it be her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, or WCU itself 鈥� and that鈥檚 helped Cook in her current position.
鈥淭he core of my job is to get people to care, and I feel like through being involved in so many things at Western, I found so many things that I cared about,鈥� Cook said, 鈥渟o it was easy to share those things with others.鈥�
And that鈥檚 become her favorite part about her job.
鈥淭hat brings me so much joy,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淎 kid the other day actually called me the librarian of the forest, and, you know, I think that that's probably the most accurate description I've ever heard."
鈥淟ibrarians get you excited about books. I'm going to get you excited about being outside, about the history of where you are, and I love seeing that light bulb go off in people's heads.鈥�
Cook has been roaming around Catoctin Mountain Park for nearly a year, and each day at the office can get hectic.
She opens the visitor center, gets volunteers oriented, manages the park鈥檚 social media and on the busiest of weekends, talks to over 1,000 visitors. That鈥檚 just a fraction of it, but despite it all, it鈥檚 yet another space in Appalachia she鈥檚 grown to love mightily.
Now, she鈥檚 taking steps to expand her knowledge of this adored region, as she鈥檒l be studying for a master鈥檚 in Appalachian studies at Shepherd University in West Virginia beginning in the fall.
鈥淢y roots are very deep. This is my home. This is what I care about, so why would I not want to learn how to love my home better, love my community better,鈥� Cook said.
鈥淲henever I was at Western, everyone was like, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 want to move to Yellowstone?鈥� I鈥檓 like, 鈥業 couldn鈥檛 think of anything I鈥檇 rather do less than move to Yellowstone.鈥� I love this place. This is what I care about.鈥�
