Here, in her own words, are those of Faith Borden, Meteorologist at the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Nashville, TN.
I have been interested in weather ever since I was a child. I lived in Massachusetts and my family and I were avid snow skiers -- one Christmas Eve, I was skiing and fell and broke my leg. While my bones were healing, it felt like I could feel the weather changing. When I told her, my mom told me I should become a meteorologist. Once I looked the word up in the dictionary, I knew that is what I wanted to do. Up until that point, I didn’t realize meteorology was a science -- all I knew was what I saw on TV. I thought those men on the news just made up the information. This was back when broadcasters were all male, chalkboards were still utilized for weather, and the local TV weather person did not have a degree related to a science field. I didn’t have much in the way of role models, but it didn’t matter. My love and interest in weather only grew from there.
In some ways, being determined to become a meteorologist made going through school easier for me. I knew I would need lots of math and science, so I made sure to take as much of those classes as I could when I got into high school. I didn’t have a guidance counselor to recommend classes, or path tracks like there are today. In some ways, this might have benefitted me, because I was not the strongest student when it came to math. I also struggled with reading, most likely due to having Dyslexia. It seemed I always understood the concept after the test, so my grades were just average.
Fast forward many years, and I was fortunate to graduate from Florida State University with a degree in Meteorology. While in school, I worked for a program that brought real-time POES satellite imagery into the classroom. As part of this program, I got to help develop curriculum for educators and help plan a weeklong intensive training program for teachers. This got me thinking about trying to merge education and meteorology. I was presented with an opportunity to go to grad school for science education, and you can say it has helped me get to where I am today.
In the 20+ years I have worked for the NWS, I have gone from intern to management, and back to a forecaster. Being a WCM in Las Vegas and Charleston was incredibly rewarding. I really enjoyed working with partners, developing exercises, educating/training others, and interacting and mentoring staff. I have been able to use my science education background and what I learned as a classroom teacher in my everyday career. However, balancing a career and raising a family can be challenging. It is not always possible to accommodate a working spouse in the city you end up in. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made and one person has to travel in order to find employment. In order to support the education challenges of my daughter when she was young (she has learning disabilities and suffers with Dyslexia), and for my husbands’ job opportunities, I left the management position and was fortunate to get an internship -- and then to be converted by the 5/12 Involve Initiative to a forecaster in Nashville. A tough decision at the time, but one that has been well worth it!
An opportunity that came with being a WCM was getting one of the WCM representative positions on the NOAA Education Council. This has been one of the most rewarding opportunities! Being able to merge my love of education and forecasting has been simply amazing. In addition, I have learned so much about NOAA, the other line offices, policies/procedures, and how NOAA operates.
My vast experiences and many twists and turns that my career has taken have given me good insight into challenges that employees (especially women) can face while working for the National Weather Service. It is very difficult to have a work life balance while raising a family. I am passionate about education, excellent customer service, decision support, and diversity. I would not change anything about the career I have had and look forward to what the future may bring.