Knowledge, Experience, and Contributions

This will be my 8th visit to the Naliboki visit and my 2nd with students. It will be forever my dream to escape the concrete jungle and discover serenity in silence and wholeness in peace. Nature, in its more unaltered state, is where I discover such gems. It is with this passion that I wish to inspire students to find a path to their own serenity.

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Every one of us has been asked to share out three things from the outset of this trip: what knowledge/skills do we wish to gain, what we expect from the overall experience, and what we will bring to our group during the trip.

For this trip, I'd like to first gain the skill of driving a manual. I've driven a manual transmission just one hour on a side road since high school. In high school, I drove a manual in a parking lot for about a hour. If things go as planned, I will be asked to drive one of the manual transmission vehicles as we will need three vehicles for each venture into the forest. It's such a simple thing, but when one goes this far into their life without addressing the simple skills, more pressure is added when one finally gets around to learning said skill. 

Furthermore, I'd like to know more about animal-to-animal interactions. I'm intrigued by the foxes rubbing in the wolf urine. I want to know more about this behavior and what drives it.

I also want to know more about the old growth--the exact age, types of trees, etc.

Finally, I'd like to know more about leading young people. I want to listen to their needs and challenges and learn how to better serve student groups in the future.

In terms of the overall experience, I want a sense of quiet and calm. I want a sense of making everything right in "my" world once again, a recharging. Selfishly, I'd love a magical animal encounter for us all at some point.

When taking into account the students, I'd say that I'd like us all to bond together in a special way. For me, WWW trips are different, and profoundly so, than shorter trips that involved academics or sports. While those trips have their distinct value and impact, I think a competitive-less, free-exploring, and vision-infused time outside the classroom with students can be one of the most profound opportunities for learning and growth. And with groups as small as ours, opportunity to really target personal growth with each student is possible. So, while we bond, an ancillary, but equally important, focus would be to see personal growth in each child during this short trip. For each student, "growth" will be disparate. 

Finally, what I will bring to the group is confidence, leadership, encouragement, and a positive attitude. I think I can deliver on each of these strengths. 

I am looking forward to this trip. Four weeks and counting.