ODS: A Drug for the soul

As many of you are aware, I have left the trail. I hiked roughly 1100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail before running out of money. In an attempt to find temporary work I stumbled accross a job as a Program Leader at Outdoor School for the Multnomah Education Service District. In this job I am offered the opportunity to work with other outdoor enthusiasts. Not ready to leave the trail, but realizing that I must, I felt that this was the perfect job for my interests. I would be offered an easing back into "society." I would be able to stay in the outdoors, be around those who love the outdoors, and try my hand at teaching. My history with Outdoor School goes back to the 5th grade when I went for the first time. Leaving Salem, OR and moving to Pendleton, OR, I was able to attend Outdoor School a second time in the 6th grade. Then in high school I went up three times as a high school counselor to the 6th graders attending the program.

Then off I went to college to pursue my career in Architecture. Events happened that sent me on a hike. This hike allowed endless hours of introspection of what I wanted for myself in the future. One idea I set out to understand was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I struggled with the idea of doing Architecture till the winters of my life, and had been contemplating the prospect of teaching. I tutored Mathematics all through college, finding myself enjoying the spark in my students eyes as they had that moment of epiphany when a concept suddenly made sense. While Architecture fed my creative side, teaching touched me in a totally different way. Naturally on the hike, I debated for many hours whether I wanted to have architecture as a hobby, and do teaching as a job. So when this opportunity arose to go out into the woods and teach kids about our natural environment, I was excited. But never in a thousand years would I have expected the experience to be so emotionally rewarding.

The program is a drug for the soul, and I have this feeling that I might be returning several times. So then, let me explain. I am a Program Leader at Milk Creek, part of Camp Adams, outside Molalla, OR. I work with 5 other Program Leaders, 4 Field Instructors, a Nurse, and a Site Supervisor. The 12 of us work at the camp over a period of 6 weeks, taking a different group of four 6th grade classes through the program every week. What makes the program a drug for the soul? This is a hard concept to explain to those not there, but I will try my best. First and foremost, I have been blessed with an amazing staff to work with. We all came out for similar reasons; a desire to teach, a desire to be outdoors, a love of the program, etc. Yet, we all are completely different, each bringing a special element to the experience we provide for the 6th graders and the high school student leaders.

My job consists of being an assistant teacher with a Field Instructor, being a personal mentor to high school students, and being support for the camp and its staff. We are an "intentional community" built to provide students with an experience that they might never have been able to have without the Outdoor School Program. In the first week we held workshops and set up the site to cater to the following six weeks of students. Before the first student ever arrived, I realized how well thought the program is, and how it is designed to help all those who go through it. I can not fully describe the effects emotionally it has on me, but I can share snippets of the week that might capture why I am addicted to this drug for the soul. The first week I acted as a Student Leader as well as a Program Leader. This means that we where shy one male high schooler, so I filled that role by having a cabin of 10 boys to myself. I made sure the kids were up on time and to various places on time. As the lessons ended for the day we had a campfire, where all the students came together and did skits and songs before heading off to bed. As I took my students away at the end of the night, we all paused at the field and pointed our eyes upward to the skies. Each night, I pointed out the constellations in the sky, sharing a story of the constellation if I knew one. Then we would return to the cabin, where I put them to bed. After all the boys were in bed I told them a story or recited a poem. After the story, I circulated the bunks giving a personal goodnight to each student. I asked them about there day, told them what was in store for the next day, and all around acted as loving parent saying goodnight. On the last night, the clouds covered the stars, so instead I told them of a story about how stars are formed (or at least what I believed when I was real young).

One student asked me where I lived. Since I don't really live anywhere right now except at camp, I told him that I lived at camp. "Wow, you must be the luckiest guy alive," he replied. In a sense there is more truth to that statement for me than I would probably admit. I have been blessed with a job that allows me to teach what I love, our natural environment. I have been blessed with amazing coworkers, with whom I have already bonded closely with. Each bringing a different element to the team, I am surrounded by a group as closely knit as those that I have hiked with. My mornings sing with the first step at the flag raising. My afternoons are sparked by a dual mentorship from other staff members, each providing me with a different element for personal growth as a staff member, and as a human being. My evenings glow with way we come together and share stories. My Field Study is Soil, so I am an assistant teacher to "Snag," on topics such as erosion, weathering, geology, earth morphology, soil pH, and all things related to the soil. I know the difference between dirt and soil. I am given the opportunity to take my knowledge and be a mentor to high school students, teaching the students how to be role models, leaders, and teachers. Over my first week I worked closely with five high schoolers. As I taught the five of them, each in turn contributed to my own personal growth and understanding of myself. By the end of the week I had grown close to my students, both 6th graders and high schoolers, and felt a pain to see them go. During the final ceremonies, I could feel emotions welling up inside of me, emotions that had been all but vacant in me over the last couple years.

The final ceremony of the week is a tree planting, where the four best students of the week are selected to plant a tree with soil that each student brought with them from a "special place." Two boys from my cabin received this honor. As we all formed in a semi-circle around the 4 students, 4 Field Instructors, and the Site Supervisor, I kneeled in the rain listening to one of my students say to everyone how the best part of outdoor school was his cabin leader, me. Wow, the week was filled with all sorts of fun, many great elements, and what he remembers was me. What an honor to hear him proudly announce that to one hundred plus people. I was thankful of the rain, for it hid the tears in my eyes. It is hard to capture what the camp does for people in words, but I think that simply stating that it is a drug for the soul, paints a picture that many can understand and relate to. I hope to write a journal entry every week about my experiences and share it with you all.


Happy Trails, Inner Peace, & Harmony