Have you ever experienced fifty consecutive days so memorable
that you can actually recall every single one? I hadn’t
until this summer, when, thanks to the support of a Marmot
Leadership Scholarship, I embarked on an Outward Bound Wilderness
Leadership Semester in Alaska. I signed up for the trip in
hopes of developing leadership skills and outdoors skills
while taking a refreshing break between the end of college
and the beginning of graduate school. As it turned out, I
achieved all of that—but also much more. I am tempted
to compile a list of fifty things I learned in fifty days,
but I’ll keep it down to seven things I learned in seven
weeks.
1. Throughout the course, I learned to worry
less what other people might think I’m doing wrong and
instead enjoy all that I can do right. At the beginning, I
dreaded cooking, fearing that I would cook something bad that
nobody would enjoy eating. As I put such worries aside, I
became increasingly confident in the kitchen and eager to
be creative with whatever ingredients were available. By day
41, I was voluntarily staying up late to bake biscuits to
compensate for a shortage of bread for the next day’s
lunch.
2. On solo, I learned to minimize external
stimulation and be more attuned to myself. Had I had a book
with me, I probably would have read it. Instead, as I sat
by myself facing a spectacular vista of the Snow River Glacier
and the surrounding mountains, I felt inspired to sketch the
scene before me. In spite of a lifelong conviction that I
cannot draw, I succumbed to the temptation and was delighted
with the result.
3. From the rigors of mountaineering, I
learned that the hardest days in life can be the best days.
Some of my favorite memories from the summer are from the
days I found most challenging, such as the day my pack weighed
eighty pounds, I tripped and ripped up my rain pants and my
knee, a constant deluge of sweat from my brow was making my
eyes burn, and on top of all that, as leader of the day, I
had to motivate a group struggling as much as I. I rose to
the occasion and the day stands out in my mind as a great
success.
4. In setting up and taking down camp, we
learned to do what needs to be done at the first opportunity.
It is much more efficient to tear down the tent as soon as
you get up than first to meander over to breakfast, then to
meander back to the tent and take it down.
5. By the time I did my final teaching presentation—on
pulleys—I had learned to teach effectively by understanding
how people learn. I structured my lesson to allow the full
learning cycle to take place, and I taught to a variety of
learning styles, accommodating the kinesthetic learners, for
example, with a fair game of 3-on-1 tug-of-war.
6. On finals, I learned to follow my whims
and share in the whims of others. Jump in a chilly tarn and
swim as long as you can stand it! Climb a mountain at dawn
to watch the sunrise! (On the way up, keep an eye out for
mountain goats eating breakfast.) Sleep under the stars—you
might even be treated to a meteor shower or the northern lights!
7. When I returned home, I learned one more
thing when everybody inquired, “I’ve thought about
going to Alaska, but I hear the mosquitoes are really bad.
Were the mosquitoes really bad?” From the number of
times I’ve been asked this question, you’d think
that everyone who returns from Alaska says, “Well, the
scenery was kind of nice, but the mosquitoes were just awful.”
Sure, I could have stayed inside all summer and never suffered
a single mosquito bite. “A ship in harbor is safe,”
wrote a wise professor named John Augustus Shedd, “but
that is not what ships are built for.”
