AmeriCorps and the Uprooted Foodie - Miranda Lipes
One of Miranda Lipes’ favorite memories from serving as an MCC Youth Crew Leader is holding a Triceratops neck vertebrae in her bare hands. By happy accident, she and her youth crew set up camp next to a group of paleontologists. After uncovering the remains of the Triceratops, the paleontologists held an impromptu lesson on Prehistory and shared their findings with the young crew. As she turned the ancient vertebrae over in her hands, Miranda remembers being moved by the simplicity and beauty of the moment. “It was amazing for me and I know it meant so much to the youth members,” she said. “This is what makes it worth it.”
Miranda wasn’t sure she would fit in at Montana Conservation Corps. At 22 years old, she had rarely left her home state of Illinois, and she was having difficulty choosing a career path. Miranda wanted to study musical theater but was discouraged when people told her that her dreams were unrealistic. She had just dropped out of Illinois State University when she ran into a friend who had recently completed Hurricane Katrina disaster relief with AmeriCorps NCCC. “I was having a really hard time figuring out if college was right for me,” Miranda said. “At that point, AmeriCorps seemed like a better use of my time in terms of making a meaningful transition in my life.”
Miranda had applied for several nearby AmeriCorps positions when she discovered an opening for an MCC Crew Member position. The idea of moving across the country to maintain trails with the U.S. National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service was different than anything she had ever done before. Miranda wasn’t even sure she was qualified. But, having nothing to lose, she submitted her application. When Miranda was contacted by MCC, she was asked if she would be interested in being a Field Crew Leader instead of a Crew Member. She was initially hesitant, but after a successful interview, found herself booking a flight to Helena, Montana.
Miranda absorbed the lessons and techniques presented during MCC’s Leadership Development Program. Her lack of experience in an environmental field made her wonder if she had what it took to be a leader. Once she was assigned a crew, however, her confidence grew. “I was able to apply everything I was absorbing. My co-leader and I realized we could do a good job together, and our group responded well to us as a team.”
That first season with Montana Conservation Corps ignited a passion for service in Miranda. She reveled in creating a safe, fun space for her crew members to learn. Back country hitches forced her to confront and work through interpersonal issues while living deliberately off the land. “We were all we had, so we had to be gentle with one another.”
At the end of the season, Miranda was hungry for more service and travel. She joined a Women’s Fire Crew with another Conservation Corps but quickly realized nothing compared to MCC’s Leadership Development Program. Determined to return, Miranda applied for a position as an MCC Youth Crew Leader. Within a few short months, she was back in Montana and ready to face a new challenge. Miranda couldn’t believe how much she learned from the hands-on experience of working with youth.
Once she completed her second season with MCC, Miranda was feeling more confident about her decisions and her future. After taking some time off, she decided to follow her heart and pursue music and theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. Once she graduated, she toured around the country performing regional theater. “I ended up doing a lot of stage-managing work, which I attribute to the leadership skills I learned at MCC,” she said. “It just goes to show how those skills can apply to anything.”
The leadership skills Miranda gained with Montana Conservation Corps raised her standards and her expectations of her professional development. After a few years of touring with a theater company, she decided to work for herself, and started a food blog called Uprooted Foodie. “I’ve been vegan for 11 years, and my secondary dream has always been to start a food blog. I jumped right in to that and now I work on it full time.”
“AmeriCorps really did spin me into this lifestyle. I went after all of my dreams. The deepest takeaway from MCC is that it showed me everything about myself. I learned that I can overcome challenges I never thought possible. Look, you’re going to fail a lot. You’re going to fall down, and you’re going to lose faith in yourself sometimes, but you have to keep going. The leadership skills that I learned at MCC have stuck with me throughout my life. MCC has an unparalleled level of integrity for leadership. It’s an amazing organization.”
You can check out Miranda’s Uprooted Foodie Blog at http://theuprootedfoodie.blogspot.com/.
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