Ariel Atkins grew up in Moab. After attending college in Montana, she returned to make it her home. She doesn’t want to be the President, would rather work for a non-profit and considers herself to be a work in progress.
1) What initially brought you to Moab?
I grew up here. I moved here when I was three with my parents for my dad’s job with Outward Bound. My interest in climbing and my AmeriCorps position with the Youth Garden Project brought me back in 2008 after attending college in Montana.
2) What do you love most about living in Moab?
The community as well as the natural beauty and adventure that surround it.
3) What do you dislike about living in Moab?
Sometimes, the lack of anonymity and the lack of progressive services such as health care, food options, etc.
4) What is your occupation?
Assistant director at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center as well as for the Moab to Monument Film Commission.
5) If you could have any job in the world, what would you most like to do?
I used to dream of being a dolphin trainer and marine biologist.
6) Describe a typical day in your life.
Sleep, eat, play or work, spend time with my animals and fiancé, work on house or garden, cook yummy food, clean, then go to bed.
7) Some people have bumper stickers on their car that reads: I’d Rather be Sailing. What would your bumper sticker read?
I’d Rather Be… with family!
8) Tell us one thing people don’t usually know about you.
My great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother was Princess Cornblossom, daughter to Chief Doublehead of the Cherokee Nation.
9) In high school, you would have been considered the person most likely to…
… take the road less traveled by or save the rainforest.
10) What is your favorite Moab activity?
It changes with the season – cross country skiing in the La Sals during winter, hiking and biking in the Spring & Fall, being on the river or in water during the summer
11) Tell us your favorite non-Moab place to visit.
I love traveling both in the wilderness and to big cities. I like places that are similar and those that provide perspective by being completely different…But my all-time favorite place to be is on a multi-day river trip with good company.
12) What do you consider your greatest achievement in life?
I’m a work in progress, I’m not particularly achievement driven.
13) If you were President, what’s the first thing you’d do to make life better in America?
I would never run for public office. I’d rather work for a nonprofit and do what I can for those in my family and within my community.
14) What superhero power would you most like to have?
Be fluent in all languages!
15) If you could be an animal, what would it be? Why?
Dolphin, because the ocean has always allured me. Plus they are playful, intelligent and social.
16) What is your all time favorite movie?
I love movies…I’ll give my two favorites on the opposite of the spectrum – “The Princess Bride” and “True Romance”.
17) And, your all time favorite book?
“Dessert Solitaire”. I read it when I lived in Hawaii and was longing for home. It was perfect at the time.
18) If you were stranded on a desert island, which three CDs would you want to have with you?
Paul Simon’s “Negotiations and Love Songs”, Natalie Merchant’s “Tiger Lily” and Van Morrison’s “Moondance”.
19) If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Why? Anyone that cooked amazing food, liked to drink, laugh and knew the right questions to ask to engage in the art of conversation.
20) What is your life philosophy?
Live spherically and in all directions and be an ambassador of love.
