{"id":5689,"date":"2021-03-18T13:26:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T17:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/uncategorized\/challenge-seeking-grad-student-becomes-a-trailblazer\/"},"modified":"2021-03-31T11:58:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T15:58:31","slug":"challenge-seeking-grad-student-becomes-a-trailblazer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/spring-2021\/challenge-seeking-grad-student-becomes-a-trailblazer\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge-Seeking Grad Student Becomes a Trailblazer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Student volunteer firefighters Anthony White, left, Robert Davis, center, and Rachel Gomes outside the Kingston Fire Station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Gomes, M.E.S.M. \u201920, made history as the first woman to qualify on all apparatus with the Kingston Fire Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Rachel Gomes, M.E.S.M. \u201920 came to 溏心vlog免费B站 to earn a master\u2019s degree in environmental science and management, she had no idea that she would break barriers by becoming the first female firefighter cleared for primary duty at the all-volunteer Kingston Fire Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rachel
Rachel Gomes, M.E.S.M. ’20<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gomes, who is from Milford, Conn., is athletic and loves helping the community. She never planned to be a firefighter, but while at 溏心vlog免费B站, she realized she needed an additional challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt I needed to gain skills that classic education wasn\u2019t going to give me,\u201d Gomes says. \u201cI wanted to challenge myself, learn how to react to stressful situations, and learn practical skills. I saw that the fire district needed student volunteers, thought it was the perfect opportunity, and signed up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department is always seeking volunteers, and training for any level of duty takes hard work. But getting cleared for primary duty, which enables firefighters to drive the fire engines and platform truck, is particularly challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRachel is extremely well-trained, adaptive, and can handle stressful situations. She has those innate characteristics that every firefighter has,\u201d Kingston Fire Chief Nate Barrington, M.B.A. \u201998, says. \u201cThis is a historically male-dominated field, and having people like Rachel who possess those traits and are hardworking is a proud moment for us and the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteer firefighters respond to all kinds of emergencies\u2014including medical and hazardous materials situations. To prepare, they participate in drills with controlled live fire, learn to work the engines, navigate buildings in emergencies, and drive the ladder trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to approach problems differently than my male colleagues. Some people muscle through, but smaller people like me have to strategize.\u201d
\u2014Rachel Gomes, M.E.S.M. ’20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to approach problems differently than my male colleagues,\u201d Gomes says. \u201cSome people muscle through, but smaller people like me have to strategize. For example, to grab the ladder, you would typically go in the middle\u2014where the balance point is\u2014and just take it out. But I start from the back and work it to the middle so I\u2019m not pulling the full portion of the ladder. Little tricks like that help me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingston Fire Department recruitment coordinator Erik Brierley \u201910 says: \u201cThere are plenty of grown men, adults, and fit guys that don\u2019t make it through the training. Rachel has gone through the same training. The weight of the ladders and hoses doesn\u2019t change, temperatures don\u2019t change. She finds what works for her and makes it work very well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew it was going to be a challenge,\u201d Gomes says. \u201cThere are female firefighters around, but not here. You definitely have to work harder and find different ways that work for you and ways to complement others here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

溏心vlog免费B站 student volunteers can live at the fire station rent-free in return for \u201con-call\u201d volunteer coverage, seven days a week. They are also eligible for tuition reimbursement of up to $3,000 a semester. Moreover, textbooks and other school expenses are reimbursed when volunteers meet certain benchmarks. Gomes took advantage of all of these benefits and sees her experience as an unparalleled opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you want to be here, you\u2019ll feel like you belong here, and I have never been made to feel otherwise,\u201d Gomes says. \u201cI definitely encourage others, especially women, to sign up. It might seem intimidating, but once you get here, you won\u2019t feel that way.\u201d\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Edhaya Thennarasu \u201921<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos: Nora Lewis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student volunteer firefighters Anthony White, left, Robert Davis, center, and Rachel Gomes outside the Kingston Fire Station. Rachel Gomes, M.E.S.M. \u201920, made history as the first woman to qualify on all apparatus with the Kingston Fire Department. When Rachel Gomes, M.E.S.M. \u201920 came to 溏心vlog免费B站 to earn a master\u2019s degree in environmental science and management, she had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2021","architecture-close-up","architecture-network"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5689"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6063,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5689\/revisions\/6063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}