A Sense Of Duty: Where The Army And Parks And Recreation Intersect

PANAMA CITY, FL - There have been many times I've questioned my career choices - I get bored easily! I've been a waitress (loved it) and a postal worker (too repetitive for me), worked with adults with disabilities, conducted reading research at Florida State University, and even did some exciting work with the U.S. Census. I thought I'd found my calling in teaching - until I discovered parks and recreation. 

A New Start
Joining City of Panama City, Florida, as the arts and culture coordinator, just a year after Hurricane Michael, changed everything. When I saw the job posting, I was impressed. I assumed they had someone in mind, but when community members encouraged me to apply, I began to wonder: What impact could I make?

Now, five years later, I'm proud to have played a small part in our city's recovery. From revitalizing downtown to enhancing quality of life through programming, placemaking and park planning - it's been incredible. Parks and recreation has given me a career that's dynamic and deeply meaningful. I get to work across disciplines, blend office time with time in nature, and help create spaces that bring people joy and a sense of belonging. 

At 37, three years into the field, I still felt something was missing. I wanted a challenge that pushed me beyond my limits - a chance to fulfill a dream I'd had since I was a teenager. So, with a doctorate and tons of experience, I enlisted in the Army Reserve.

I chose to go through Basic Training to share showers and field latrines, and crawl through the mud in freezing temperatures. But somehow, those moonlit foot marches, starry skies with tracer fire, the strange stillness amidst chaos, and leading a company of 200 strangers in a system I myself did not know, was in a way reminiscent of my job back home. You know that feeling! When you pour everything into a project - you're living and you're breathing it, but you don't realize until mid-event how truly meaningful the outcome is. Moments when you don't pull out the camera- you just feel it-when pride and purpose hit so deeply that words fail.

Paths Toward Purpose

I feel incredibly blessed to have these two careers - parks and recreation and the Army. They have given me something irreplaceable: a life so full of meaning and service and an opportunity to invest in something bigger than myself. Whether it's in boots laced for drill or flats scuffed from a day of walking the park, I do this work because I believe in community. I believe in connection. 

No two days are the same, and that's exactly how I like it. Whether I'm helping design a mural with local artists or planning logistics for field training, I've realized it's not about choosing one path over the other. It's about blending purpose with passion - discipline with creativity - and continuing to grow. 

I may not know exactly what the next chapters look like, but I know this: I'll keep serving, keep learning and keep building. Because in both parks and recreation and the Army, the mission is the same - leave things better than you found them. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Kesia "Dr. K" Blenn, CPRE, is Arts and Culture Coordinator at City of Panama City (Florida) Parks, Culture and Recreation Department.