Three Wyomingites To Travel State In RV, Learning About Career Opportunities

Three young adults from Wyoming are getting set to go on a road trip of a lifetime, touring the state in a large green RV to learn about career opportunities – and their own futures.

This April, they are participating in a three-week adventure with Roadtrip Nation, an organization that helps career seekers learn how to make a life doing what they love.

Driving around the state from April 12-26 and living in an RV, the Wyoming road trippers will stop in a variety of cities and towns to interview business owners and leaders about their career path.

“What I hope this brings to light is we have some really cool things in Wyoming,” said Ilaine Brown, Career and Technical Education education consultant with the Wyoming Department of Education. “What we’re trying to do is make sure everybody sees how much business and industry we have here.”

Brown said often Wyoming students receive CTE training in high school, go on to get post-secondary certification and then leave the state to get a job. She said she hopes this road trip program will showcase just how many diverse and interesting career opportunities there actually are in the state.

Brown worked with Roadtrip Nation to organize the Wyoming trip, and she noted the Department of Education partnered with the Daniels Fund, Strada Education Network and the Wyoming Workforce Development Council to make the trip possible.

She explained that her department doesn’t decide where the road trippers will go, but people from Roadtrip Nation take care of finding interesting people and businesses the road trippers can choose to visit.

Wyoming residents between the ages of 18 and 24 had the opportunity to apply for the road trip. Of those applicants, Roadtrip Nation selected three people to go on the trip. According to bios provided to the Department of Education, all three are interested in finding out what Wyoming has to offer.

Josh Fitzsimmons is a computer engineering senior at the University of Wyoming and has an interest in renewable energy but is uncertain about what career opportunities are available in the state.

Rachel Purdy of Pine Bluffs has a bachelor’s degree in economics and agriculture business from UW and a master’s in agricultural economics from Purdue University. After taking the first job offer she received after college, she is interested in looking for something more fulfilling.

Cheyenne’s Richard Resler Mutter graduated from high school in the middle of a pandemic and knew he wasn’t ready to go to college right away. He is currently working at a factory as an assembler, but is looking forward to hearing from people around Wyoming about their experiences.

All three will get to talk with people who have found their career here.

Their journey will be captured on video and will then be made into a show available to watch on PBS stations and on the Roadtrip Nation website in September.

Check out the rest of the article from Wyoming Business Report here.