THE ALUMNI ISSUE associate professor of parks and forest resources, had taught her in Interpretive Methods, a class that included museum and exhibit design.
“I love being outdoors, and I revel in the fact that I work for the park service in some of the most beautiful places in America.” Deconstructing each exhibit through the delicate work of cleaning artifacts, cataloging each with a location and number, and packing each away to preserve them at the Smithsonian Museum warehouse in the Washington, D.C., Metro area, was the reverse of building a new exhibit. “All skills I hope to use as we reconstruct new exhibits once clean-up is completed on Ellis Island.” The path to a park service career should have seemed evident for Erin. “Everyone thought I would follow in my dad’s footsteps.” Her father, a Unity College con law graduate, worked in law enforcement for the National and Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. But every summer, while her mom worked as a park ranger in Massachusetts, Schoppmeyer helped her with programs, explored the park, and went birding. “I love being outdoors, and I revel in the fact I work for the park service in some of the most beautiful places in America,” says Schoppmeyer. “When I accompanied my dad to an environmental conference in Shenandoah Park, he introduced me to a park law enforcement colleague.” As Schoppmeyer recalls his generosity in showing her around, she notes he didn’t try to change her mind. Instead he introduced her to people in her chosen field. As she toured the park, Schoppmeyer ran into a Unity alumna who told her to never give up her dreams. Battling Hurricane Sandy, government shutdowns, and an often just-out-of-reach dream to becoming permanent in the park service, Erin persevered by networking, using her resources to create new programs, temping in various positions, and ultimately sifting through sand and scrubbing off mold—a gritty job for those who won’t give up. She’s now permanent and back to taking the ferry from Battery Park to her beloved destination of standing in the crown and relating the statue’s history to visitors from near and far.
Erin Schoppmeyer at the Statue of Liberty. 8
| UNITY MAGAZINE SPRING 2014