It’s a long way from Wittenberg to Fairbanks, Alaska.
For Kristin Timm, that journey was long, unexpected and fulfilling.
She returned to her alma mater Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School on May 23 to address the Class of 2025 and accept the school district’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Timm graduated from the school in 2000. She eventually went on to receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees in natural resource management and science communication, respectively, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she is a postdoctoral researcher with the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center at the International Arctic Research Center.
She also has a Ph.D. in communication from George Mason University.
“When I was where you are now, I didn’t have a grand plan,” Timm told the 86 graduates, their families and friends. “I sure as hell didn’t know what a Ph.D. was or what someone with one would do. I didn’t even really know what doors would open for me or which ones I would have to pry open myself.”
Timm attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point after graduating from high school, which eventually led to a life-changing opportunity.
“A few months into my first semester, I learned about a university-sponsored spring break trip to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala and signed up,” she said. “It was amazing. I tried new foods. I slept in a hammock. I saw people living dramatically different lives than my own. I learned how these communities were managing their natural and cultural resources.”
The professor leading the trip asked Timm if she’d like to work in Alaska for the summer, and she could scarcely believe she could do that.
“Weeks later, I had an interview and was buying a plane ticket to Alaska,” she said. “When I arrived, I got a crash course on the plants and animals, glaciers, geology and the history of Alaska. I shared that new knowledge with thousands of visitors from around the world. My small world opened wide open that summer. It was as if I’d been walking in a hallway and all of a sudden, I was in a cathedral.”
Timm’s first visit to Alaska only lasted one summer, but it turned out to be a life-altering experience.
“I saw how Alaska’s glaciers had been incredibly melting and became very curious about our changing climate,” she said. “I loved the mountains, and I knew from that moment that I would call Alaska home someday. Most importantly, I found that this world offers unparalleled opportunities to those who are brave enough to take them.”
Timm eventually settled into a job as a researcher at Fairbanks.
“I was in my 30s when I started dreaming of going back to school for my Ph.D.,” she said. “I started talking to a professor on the East Coast whose work I admired, and we exchanged emails for years. When we finally met in person, he asked me outright, ‘So, when are you going to start a Ph.D. with me?’”
Timm said that it would be impossible, living 3,000 miles away and her husband having a business in Alaska.
“I already had a decent job, so why leave it?” she said. “He worked with me; he believed in me, and we made it work. My boss at the time also believed in doors, saying ‘You have good ideas. This degree will help you open doors, and I’ll definitely try to hire you when you come back.’”
Timm’s message to Witt-Birn graduates focused on doors that they will encounter on their journey.
“Even if the door is only cracked open, muster the courage to kick it open,” she said. “Once you’re on the other side of that door, own that decision. Because the world needs you in those spaces, even if it feels unfamiliar or if you don’t feel like you fit in at first.”
Timm, who specializes in climate change, now helps her students in Alaska open doors in front of them.
“There is no bigger reward than helping my students see the opportunities that are just outside their field of vision,” she said. “The opportunities you might seize, they might just change the world. When something or someone calls you, when it scares you a little and excites you a lot, consider that a signal. May you walk through doors you never expected and find yourself exactly where you’re meant to be.”
Timm said she doesn’t remember much about the day she graduated from high school.
“I do remember the night before, driving around in an old RV, laughing with my friends,” she said. “I remember a lot of tears, mourning a chapter of my life that was inevitably coming to an end. For the most part, I loved my time in high school. I had good friends; I loved most of my classes. I had excellent teachers, and I had incredible experiences from cheering for the state football champions to competing in state extemporaneous speaking in FFA and many things in between.”
Timm also advised students to not take high school graduation for granted.
“Not a single one of us has done this alone,” she said. “We are each a tapestry of everyone who has loved us, believed in us, taught us and encouraged us even when there was no proof we’d be successful. Maybe they didn’t do it perfectly because no one ever can. Maybe they’re not with us today, or maybe they’re here tonight. Regardless, I hope you find a way to express your gratitude to them for leading you to this destination.”
Kristin Timm returns home from Alaska to address grads
