“'As I sit here waiting for my ducklings' to materialize on the horizon of Lake Marion, I feel happy to be alive. I am overflowing with love and passion for these people that I know are being shaped and transformed for the better through this experience. And I am grateful beyond words to be a part of it all.”
This is my summer of internships - I have a year left in college as a super senior and double major that requires me to complete three, six-week internships before I can graduate. So as a Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education major, I have to complete an internship that puts me in a position where I am leading, teaching, and planning logistics in an outdoor pursuit.
I got lucky this summer and was chosen to be the intern for the May-mester Voice of the Rivers trip that my college takes every summer. While I did experience all the requirements of my internship, my understanding of what it means to be a leader in the wilderness changed in amazing and unanticipated ways.
Voice of the Rivers is an interdisciplinary source to sea river trip in canoes and sea kayaks with 10-15 students and two professors. As they move down the river, the students take two courses - one in leadership and outdoor skills and the other in a subject (such as English) that is tied into the experience of the trip.
This year, the expedition was based on the Broad River starting at the headwaters in Chimney Rock State Park, NC near Lake Lure and continued down the river to Charleston, SC and into the Atlantic Ocean. (See: voiceoftherivers.org)
When I first took on an internship for the expedition, my job consisted of helping plan logistics - mileage, camping, food, vans, and more. As things progressed, however, my job slowly became more like being momma duck to twelve "ducklings" that depended on me to make sure their trip went as smoothly as possible. Many people in the group had never taken on something as big as a source to sea river trip - some had never even been camping!
My degree in Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education utilizes a teaching style that ties direct experiences to lessons and reflections (such as tying English and Literature into a river trip experience.) This is done by putting people into situations where the experience teaches them something - whether it be practical skills or personal discoveries, then following up the experience with a discussion and reflection used glean the lessons learned from the experience so that this knowledge may be used in the future for further growth and development. Basically, teaching that life is in circles. Nothing is separate, everything is connected - and to grow, one must find connections to the world and others.
Through this internship, I have been able to make connections and discoveries of my own while supporting and observing this growth in 12 other people. I think this is what I came out here for. This is why I chose to study what I did and why I am so passionate about it.
When it comes down to it, our planet and the people that live on it are the defining factors of every other pursuit in the world. Supporting growth in others seems to me, to be the most important and honorable thing I can be doing with my life right now.
During this trip, my connection to a wide variety of people has been enhanced in so many ways. I have been able to grow with the people in my team to create such a close-knit group that we are practically family at this point. I have been with them through sunny days paddling beautiful landscapes and water as well as on rainy days struggling against wind and exhaustion to reach our camp.
I have gotten to know each individual more as the person they truly are and less as just the person they choose to show the world. Each person now has a special place in my life as a team member, fellow adventurer, and friend. The connections you make in the wilderness are unlike any other.
Traveling through North and South Carolina by way of the river, the group has met, been helped by, and observed many people who grew up with the river in their backyard and a crucial aspect of their childhood and livelihood. The kindness we received from these people served as a window into the true nature of people and communities – restoring our faith in humanity a little more with each encounter.
The connections I have made while on this river go beyond just human encounters– my connection and appreciation for the natural world that we are paddling through has only grown more with each passing day. The wildlife I have encountered has humbled me as a citizen of this earth – we all live, love, struggle, and pass into the same cycle of life and death. Through the river and the life that thrives on it, a clear picture of life in circles is revealed.
So I guess my point in sharing about this experience is to try to give people a small glimpse into what it means to work as an outdoor educator and environmental advocate. Often, the image that comes to mind when you hear “wilderness leadership” is someone teaching advanced skills in kayaking, mountain biking, or climbing. Environmental advocacy makes you think politicians, Sierra Club, and laws you don’t understand.
But through my internship this summer, I came to realize that you don’t have to be an adrenaline junkie or politician to work, teach, advocate for and change lives in the outdoors.
The power of nature is often forgotten in the everyday haste of industry and technology. Taking a step back from these things and returning to the basics, even for just a few minutes, can reset your brain and open your eyes in ways you don’t expect. By simply walking in the woods, perspectives can change, people can grow, and connections can be created.
While I sit here waiting for my “ducklings” to materialize on the horizon of Lake Marion, I feel happy to be alive. I am overflowing with love and passion for these people that I know are being shaped and transformed for the better through this experience. And I am grateful beyond words to be a part of it all.
If you long to experience the raw and powerful influence that nature has on the human soul and spirit – go to the woods, go to nature, and open your heart and mind to the life that flows through it. Find your place – grounded and unguarded, in the circles that create the cycles of this life that we all exist in.
