Member Spotlight : Arif Nairam

What is your name?    
Arif Nairam

What do you do for work and what is your slash (aka what do you do in your free time)?
Hike, Hunt, Fish, Off-road, Kayak, read technical documentations and learn about new technologies or learn more about the existing technologies that I work with.

How did you land in Helena?
I was an exchange student with a U.S. Department of State sponsored exchange program that was administered by American Councils for International Education. The host family that I stayed with during the exchange year sponsored and informally adopted me, and I was able to come back to Helena.

What is the best piece of advice that you ever received – career-related or otherwise?
Career advice: At the end of the day, it is not about a single action or decision that we make, but the collection of all actions, decisions, successes, failures and contributions that we make to our life and the life of others around us.

When do you feel the most yourself?
When I am out alone in the mountains or on a river, and it is absolutely quite, or anytime that I focus on a problem that I have never solved before. There is a healthy balance between feeling content and feeling challenged.

Where is the last place you explored and where do you want to explore next?
I floated the smith river this past spring which is a four day/night camping and floating trip. I want to hike up to Grinnell Glacier in Glacier Park and wheel the Wild Bill jeep trail this summer.

Tell us something about yourself that we didn’t ask:
I am an Afghan turned Montanan. I am raising my seven year old daughter, and exploring this beautiful state one trail, one town, and one river at a time.