While managing Gearhead Outfitters in Springfield, Missouri, we had the opportunity to meet and work with some pretty cool people. During one interview with a potential hire we learned she had done trail maintenance on the Appalachian Trail the very year Jackson hiked. I still find this a delightful coincidence. Aside from her work with the Maine Appalachian Trail Crew, Kaila has also been a zip line guide and missionary overseas. She also has a very big heart for people. A great friend and outdoor enthusiast, Kaila wants to see others succeed and help them climb their physical and metaphorical mountains. This passion has led her to pursue a career in adventure therapy.
About to graduate college, I asked Kaila for an interview to talk about what comes next.
Lindsey: Tell me about yourself.
Kaila: I was raised in a small town outside of St. Louis on a farm that wasn’t quite a farm… We had a lot of land, so I spent a lot of time outside. I went to community college in St. Louis and then I transferred down to Missouri State, which is where I am now…
Lindsey: What are you studying?
Kaila: I’m studying adventure therapy. Missouri State doesn’t have the program specifically of adventure therapy so I’m majoring in psych and minoring in recreation. So instead of counseling kids in an office, this field of study focuses on taking them backpacking, rock climbing, kayaking. There’s a few different avenues I could take after graduating, which is what I’m trying to figure out now.
Lindsey: Have you ever felt “in-between”? Lost, confused, or scared about what comes next?
Kaila: One-hundred percent. I think my faith plays a really big role in the decisions that I make. I’ve gone back and forth wondering if I want to do missionary work or outdoor ministry, which is basically the same thing as adventure therapy except you tell them about Jesus. So right now that’s where I’m at… not really knowing which direction… The question that everyone asks when you say “I’m graduating in May” is “What’s next?!” And I’m like, “It’s March 13th. I graduate in two months. But I don’t have an answer.” I’m planning to do some missions. After that I have no idea which direction to go. I do know that whatever I do will be in an outdoor setting.
Lindsey: So that’s really what sparked the idea for this blog: when I graduated and had people asking, “So what are you going to do now?” All I could think was, I don’t know!
Kaila: I think that’s one of those socially obligated questions to ask. I think some people are super excited to answer that question because they have something planned and it gives them the opportunity to share about it. But I think for a lot of people that don’t necessarily know it’s almost like a slap in the face. As if they’re being asked, “Well why don’t you know?”
Lindsey: So you’re not sure what you’re going to do in the future but you do know what you’re doing later this year. Tell me a little bit about that.
Kaila: In September I’m doing YWAM, which is “Youth With A Mission.” It’s a global missions organization so I’ll be in North Cascades National Park for three months for training, and then I’ll go overseas for three months, either in Northern Africa or Southeast Asia. And then I’ll come back and not know what to do. *Laughs nervously* But, I don’t know, it’s not fun knowing every part of a plan. It’s fun not knowing. Sometimes.
Kaila: Someone told me once that if you put your expectations in people or things, then you’re bound to get disappointed. So if I expected to be live in Wyoming in three years, but something changed, I’d be disappointed instead of being happy with the present. I think, for me anyway, some people thrive on having a plan, but I like short term goals. Like, I know I’m graduating in May. So that’s what I’m focusing on.
Lindsey: I think a lot of what we try to come back to is little pieces of advice for people who, like us, don’t know what they’re doing. So what would your advice be for someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing, or doesn’t know what’s next?
Kaila: *Laughs* Does anyone know what they’re doing? Honestly? I think, so much of society, through social media and trying to give good first impressions, we try to give off the idea that we have it together. But in reality I think everyone is in that in-between moment. There’s always something behind you and there’s always something on the horizon. So, I don’t know.
I guess it’s all about how you handle that. Something that has helped me is that I’m the type of person that likes chasing things. I like having things to look forward to. Instead of thinking “I have to do this, this and this,” I try to think, “I get to graduate. I get to go to YWAM.” So I think it’s important to change the narrative from “I’m stuck in-between” to “I get to be in this moment.” It’s easy to lose track of the successes we have, but when you step back and look at each goal you’ve reached thus far it’ll change your perspective.