I Took a Chance and Said “Yes?”
I had no idea what direction I going in with my degree—stepping outside my comfort zone and accepting the challenge was worth it.
By Kim Rhodes, GIS Associate
The year was 2015. The place was the University of North Carolina at Asheville. I was finishing up my junior year of college, when a professor approached me about a research opportunity. I’m told, “You should work with NEMAC here on campus—they’re a fantastic resource for local projects.” Then they asked asked, “Can you learn to use GIS?” It is May. The project is realistically due in the fall. Thinking out loud, I replied, “NEMAC. Sure, I’ve seen a presentation or two from them. GIS? When is this project due? I guess…I like a good challenge. Yes?”
The rest is history.
That summer was hands down one of the most informative of my college career. I’m not trying to sound overly dramatic—it’s just that before then I really had no direction with what I was doing with my degree. In truth, I had heard of GIS, and never saw myself doing it because it seemed too hard. And, well, I don’t really know that much about computers. So, I wrote it off pretty early on.
If you are a student — of anything — DON’T DO THIS. I’m serious. Don’t even think about it.
I was lucky to have supportive resources such as NEMAC, Google, and the library to help me fumble my way around making my first map. It was interesting, and hard, and I secretly loved it. The thing is, I still ask Google things about GIS all the time.
So, I spent the summer learning about spatial data and making map legends while trying to understand changes in land use patterns across western North Carolina. Looking back on it, there are so many things I would change about the project. But the one thing I wouldn’t change is taking on the challenge and making the effort to do the best work I could possibly do with the very limited (read: nonexistent) skillset I had.
As a student of Environmental Studies and Economics, GIS ended up helping a lot of things make sense for me. It’s not very surprising—I’m a visual learner. Learning and using GIS required me to think critically and ask more and different questions about data and issues, but it also allowed me to explore these things spatially and then consider how I could identify solutions or answers. Which I also secretly loved.
After my whirlwind summertime introduction to GIS, I was offered a position as a student intern with NEMAC. I happily accepted. As a student intern, I learned a lot more about the work NEMAC had done over the years. I openly loved it. When I graduated from UNC Asheville, I joined the NEMAC team as a Geospatial Associate. As NEMAC evolves—both alone and within NEMAC+FernLeaf, its partnership with Fernleaf Interactive—I continue to see the value and am proud of the work we do and the potential we have as a group. I would say that stepping outside my comfort zone and accepting that challenge was worth it in so many ways.
I took a chance and said “yes” to something that was new, scary, and somewhat daunting, and it ended up making perfect sense.
If you are a student, DO THIS.
You don’t have to learn GIS. Just say “um…yes?” to something you might have otherwise ignored or avoided.
What have you got to lose? You might secretly (or openly) love it.
