From Waldorf to Wyoming

By Diana Humble

If one has ever set foot inside the Forest City YMCA, they probably know Rachel Dreeszen.

The former wrestler from Kingsley, Iowa with a wide smile and roaring laugh has been working at the front desk for the past three years.

“Rachel is one of the strongest lifters in the weight room,” said Nick Farkas, a YMCA frequenter. “She always has an encouraging word for new lifters.”

“She’s very sweet and outgoing,” said Kaylee Schuermann, one of Dreeszen’s housemates. “She’s the type of person who will always be there with you through the hard times.”

The blonde history major and political science minor also has some unique hobbies. This past summer she worked as a whitewater river guide on the Pigeon River in Tennessee.

Dreeszen had done whitewater rafting before, but never as a guide.

“There was a two-week process where they taught us how to raft,” Dreeszen said. “And then I was there from May to August giving tours down the river.”

The outdoors has always been a big part of Dreeszen’s life, and she hopes to make a career out of it.

“My main goal to become a director of a region of National Parks,” she said. “They’re really good jobs, and most people have the jobs until they die.”

Every summer Dreeszen’s family would take a big vacation to a National Park.

“My brother has autism, and we’d really have to think about things that he can do,” she said. “One thing we could do was go on hikes.”

The next step towards Dreeszen’s goal is moving out west to get her Master’s degree.

“I’m hoping to go to grad school at the University of Wyoming to study Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management,” Dreeszen said. “Wyoming has a vast number of ecosystems, so it’ll be great to work out there.

“For these National Parks to stay around, someone has to care, and I do. I’ll do anything in my power to make sure they stay open.”