Category Archives: Our Community Reads

So imagine you’re looking for a job in your chosen field and instead of finding something local you see an opening for a job at the South Pole. What would you do? If you’re 29-year-old Sarah Meyer you say, “I figured if life gives you an opportunity to apply for a job in Antarctica, you take it!”

Sarah grew up in Arlington, Texas, and has her doctorate in physical therapy from University of Texas Medical Branch. For the past four years she worked as a physical therapist at an inpatient rehabilitation facility with specialization in brain injury and strokes. But after a whirlwind process of applying, she recently found herself on a flight to Antarctica, arriving “on the ice” February 13 where she is part of a three-person team at the McMurdo Medical Clinic at McMurdo Station.

Choosing to work as part of the “winter-over” staff in Antarctica is a serious commitment. Sarah and I started trading emails recently and as she put it, “The station was closed (last plane in and out) on March 9 and will open again (next plane to arrive) in either August or October. It’s undecided at this point secondary to government funding.”

Sarah is part of a winter population of 142 people at the station. In addition to her work duties, she is volunteering at the the station library. And, she has graciously accepted our offer to read The Brief History of the Dead along with us and give us her perspective on the book–particularly from her vantage point of living and working in Antarctica!

Sarah is also willing to answer questions, so if you have questions about life at the South Pole, especially as portrayed in the book, put them in the comments below and I will pass them along to Sarah. As she has time between her responsibilities, she will send back answers that I will post on the blog!

In the meantime, if you want to see where Sarah is writing from, check out this link she sent to a live webcam of McMurdo Station. “The red and white building on the Arrival Heights Camera is the Medical Hospital. The sun is getting lower and lower, so the camera will be less helpful once the sun sets and does not return to our horizon for several months.” You can also read another person’s account of arriving at McMurdo Station.