Alum Spotlight: Sara Wettekin

From The Corps To A Career

Sara Wettekin grew up playing on the beaches of Pennsylvania’s famed Presque Isle State Park and swimming in Lake Erie. Following her love of the outdoors, she
majored in Environmental Geology in college.

After graduating, she worked as a water quality specialist for an industrial company. Unfulfilled, a friend working for the SCA’s Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps encouraged her to apply.

“The next thing I knew, I was hired,” she said. “From the moment I started, I was like, this is awesome.”

SCA alum Sara Wettekin wrote the name of her dream job on an index card and carried it around with her for motivation. (Photo Credit: Sara Wettekin)

Wettekin served three seasons with the Outdoor Corps, with her final season as a crew leader. Having dreamed of working as an Environmental Education Specialist at her hometown state park, Wettekin wrote the position down on an index card and carried it around with her for motivation.

“Four years later, it came true. “I owe the SCA for this opportunity. Otherwise, I’d still be in a basement working on a boiler,” she said. “I know that my calling is to connect people to what is around them. “I pinch myself all the time that I am able to do that on a daily basis.”

SCA alum Sara Wettekin during her service with the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps. (Photo Credit: Sara Wettekin)

Wettekin said she is grateful for the SCA’s generous supporters, who have committed to helping build the next generation of conservation leaders.

“It’s important to support this work because every youth and young adult should experience something like the SCA. It shapes your mind in a different way that is beneficial to society as a whole,” Wettekin said. “You get that full experience of what it is to give back to the land and in turn give back to the people. Everyone benefits from this.”