- Samantha Corcoran

Hey! Hey! You! You! You wish she was your girlfriend!

       What if every three months you picked up and moved for your job? For Sara Dillman this is normal. Right now, Dillman, 26 years old, lives in Santa Barbara, California where she plans to live until winter.
        Dillman is a traveling nurse and is placed in a new city every three months, although she has the option stay in that city for longer. Dillman has lived in Santa Barbara for 7 months. Dillman gets to choose where her next place will be. She tells the traveling nurse agency which state and area she wants to live in and then she is told what hospitals are opened with her specialty.
        “I’m medical surgical which means any general things people need taken care of at the hospital I can do. I do a lot of pre- and post-surgical patients and then I have a specialty in neuro-and urosurgery,” Dillman said. Dillman works a minimum of 3 days a week for 12 hours each day, although she can pretty much make her own schedule at the hospital she works at now. At other hospitals Dillman could work as much as 6 or 7 days a week if they need nurses badly.
       This is Dillman’s 6th time to Alaska with the Alaska Great Lakes Project. “When I was an eighth grader and heard about this trip it just sounded exciting. I never thought about coming to Alaska until I found out about the Alaska Great Lakes Project. I’ve wanted to come back for the last couple of years but it never worked out with work and all,” Dillman said. Dillman’s favorite part of Alaska is Grizzly Bear Campground. She loves camping at Grizzly Bear because it’s beautiful.
       One of Sara Dillman’s favorite things to do is run. She ran her first 10k race on the Alaska Great Lakes Project her eighth grade year, and went on to run cross-country and track in high school. She won a running scholarship to the University of Central Florida. Three years ago, Dillman won the women’s division of the Midnight Sun Run in Fairbanks. “I think Grizzly Bear is my favorite place to run in the world because it’s beautiful and you can always see mountains and sometimes you can see wildlife,” says Dillman.
       Dillman has been looking at many places she plans to go after she’s done in Santa Barbara such as Australia, Virgin Islands, New Orleans, and Denver, Colorado. They all have somewhat good weather and have fun outdoor activities. Dillman has encountered famous people who come into the hospital a few times but can’t give names out because of patient confidentiality.
       Some day Dillman would like to go back to school to get her masters and to become a midwife. “I love my job. I get to meet a lot of my patients out in the community and my patients are always very thankful. It’s a very rewarding job.”