First, congratulations on knowing just what you want to do with your life.

If you go to the NC OSHA website you can view all of the Park Ranger openings and requirements. Every park is a little different, but the descriptions will give you a bit of information on what you can focus on for experience.

North Carolina state parks loves the idea of Rangers as educators, and that experience is very important. Work as an educator at a nature center is a great job even part-time. There is also a NC Environmental Education Certification which takes a year or two to get but you'll be asked in every interview how far you are toward certification.

Most every park has seasonal positions to cover the ticket booths and to have extra maintenance personnel. Working both would be good to get you the experience of general cleanup and customer service.

Each job gets 300+ applicants, so you should expect to work a good few years as a seasonal before you start to get interviews let alone get a job. For people your age, 3-5 years as a seasonal is not unheard of, whether that work is all in the State system or at national or municipal parks. That could well be a good opportunity to gain experience yet travel the country a little bit working for different parks. That may include some time after you've graduated, too.

And apply to everything whether you think you're qualified or not. Don't hold out for one specific park. You'll end up getting interviews for jobs you didn't expect to hear back from, and be rejected for interviews for jobs you were very qualified for.

If you're gonna be at Crowders, you could always stop in the office and see if you could do a ride-along. It'd be a good way to ask the Ranger job questions.

All NC Rangers are law enforcement, so stay in shape and keep your nose clean, as a felony or DUI means no job for you.