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In late winter 2023, against record-setting snowfall, two Fort Lewis College juniors joined Southwest Colorado Community Naturalist Keith Bruno and Weminuche Audubon Society Volunteer Kurt Huffman for a 10-mile trek into the HD Mountains near Bayfield, Colorado. Matt Young and Ian Crews were on a mission to record the unique calls of the Mexican spotted owl. Young and Crews are members of FLC’s Strategies for Ecological Education, Diversity & Sustainability Club, and the excursion provided valuable insight into their future careers as land management professionals.

Skiing is the economic lynchpin for many Colorado communities, providing capital to local businesses and opportunities for further economic development. The industry produces $4.8 billion in revenue in the state and provides 46,000 year-round jobs. The ski industry is also an integral part of the United States economy, generating $20 billion in economic output annually. 

Many students, staff, and faculty noticed the vibrant poster reminding the FLC community of Native American Heritage Month, a celebration of the cultural impact of Indigenous peoples. The poster’s design is the work of V. Barney, a senior studying Communication Design and Sports Administration.

Ben Sorensen (Marketing, '13) stepped away from his corner office and position as the director of sales for Ballantine Communications Industry to start his own business, Ascent Digital Agency.

Thanks to generous donors and a bounty of support from FLC’s Career Services, students can gain invaluable real-world experience while doing a world of good before they even graduate. From farms to radio, Africa to outer space, student interns work alongside professionals in fields of their interests, gaining skills and insight into their future roles beyond the classroom.

A Durango-based nonprofit uses both a social system from the past and student talents from the present to make it affordable for Four Corners-area homeowners to add solar power systems to their homes. 

Angela Grogan couldn’t imagine that a rhinoceros would help determine her passion and her career. That was before she spent two summers interning with Out of Africa Wildlife Park, a private zoo in Camp Verde, Arizona.

For many of us, a college internship helped forge the direction we would follow in our professional careers. Six Fort Lewis College students received such inspiration this summer through the inaugural Four Corners Federal Lands Internship Program.

What is it like to be a student at Fort Lewis College? In our "Day in the Life" series, we'll explore student life at FLC through the eyes of our students. In this episode, we meet Danielle, who has an event planning internship that mirrors her Business Administration – Tourism & Hospitality Management major. On this day, Danielle works out at the Student Life Center, goes to a Marketing class, has lunch downtown at The Balcony, and helps plan and execute an event called Chocolate Fantasia.

With unemployment still above 7.5 percent it can be a challenge for college graduates to get a start on their career path after school. To help their students, today’s college career services programs must offer more than “a slightly gloomy place with 3x5 index cards posted on the wall listing bad job openings…” So says Suzanne Lucas in her CBS Money Watch article “.”

Normally when people think "history," "excitement" doesn't also come to mind. But for Evan West, it does.

West, a sophomore History and Theatre dual-major from Fort Collins, is one of the first students to explore the History Department's new Public History option, which, he says, “is all about bringing history to life.”

When it comes to career preparation, nothing beats real-world experience.

A new internship program coordinated by the FLC Career Services office and the Durango Chamber of Commerce is creating opportunities for students to get that hands-on professional experience, earning workplace wisdom and insights, while deepening their skills and knowledge.

Some of Fort Lewis College students' most rewarding experiences and achievements don't make it onto their resumes or applications for graduate school or jobs --  studying abroad, completing an internship or volunteer experience, making the dean’s list, or winning a departmental award or scholarship -- even though these may be the most meaningful, educational, and career-preparing accomplishments on the way to earning their degrees.