Lessons from Field Camp 2012

A clean, well-lighted place.

I recently returned from a three week geology field camp in Colorado/New Mexico.  This is my second summer to take part in this camp and my first as TA/camp cook.  There are lessons to be learned, both in the role of student and the role I played this year.  Here is my attempt to examine some of those lessons.

First, as a student.

It’s an impressive thing when you realize how much we can tell about what is happening below the surface, and through that understanding the ancient processes that formed the land, simply by examining rocks at outcrop.  Geologic principles and field methods actually being put into practice to uncover hidden structures and emplacement mechanisms give the air of magic and art to the science.  It is something that has always appealed to me.  Putting that knowledge and those principles into practice myself was very exciting!  It showed me what I had learned over those years of taking classes in a very practical way.  It showed me that I may not know everything, but I could develop a pretty good hypothesis and defend it with what I did know.  That was empowering.  I also learned how to physically push myself while staying within my limits.  Always a valuable skill to have.

As a teaching assistant/student support person, the lessons are a little different.  You certainly get a better appreciation for the amount of effort and planning that are required to give the students the best environment possible to foster learning.  You also have to come to the understanding that, even though we would love everyone to become perfect little field geologists, not everyone is cut out for or even wants to be cut out for the field.  Field camp is a great way to give people an experience.  Some people will take to it naturally and see it as an opportunity to push themselves to see what they can do.  Others will see it as something that has to be endured and conquered so that life can move on to other pursuits.

The real truth is, on the continuum between these two views, most people find their own ways to push themselves beyond where they might have felt they could go.  It may not be what we wanted for them, but I’m not sure that it even should be.  The more I consider it, the more it seems like field camp is a personal journey.

Beauty, obstacle, or both?

We are all confronted with the same stimuli: incredible beauty, physical challenges, obstacles and unfortunate events.  We even get to choose individually how we will classify those same stimuli for ourselves, some choosing beauty while others see an obstacle.  We all also get to choose which of these things to face, and which to leave behind.

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I remember telling some of my fellow campers from last year that I was going to go again in a new role this year.  Some of them congratulated me and even expressed some envy.  Others gave me a shocked look and asked why I would ever want to do such a thing again.

So why did I go back, and why would I plan to go again? (which I do)

Is it financial?  It’s a good Summer job, but when you break down the number of hours of effort, the pay is not hard to make elsewhere for less effort.  Is it an easy way to get back to such a beautiful place?  Honestly, it would be easier just to pack up the whole family in the minivan and go. (which, for reference, can be a real pain to do)  Whining students are just as loud as whining family members, and there are usually more of them.

I think it’s the unique triple junction of natural world, humanity, and creative knowledge that make it seem worthwhile to me.  There are many people, myself included, who find the field camp experience to be transformative.  It’s a way to push yourself physically, mentally, and even spiritually.  It’s a place that you can find out an awful lot about yourself, what you are made of, what you value, what you already know, and what you don’t know yet.  All within the watchful presence of guides to lead you further when you want to go….and a cook even!

If I can be a part of that transformative experience for someone else, I’m happy to do it.  Even if their transformation is not the one I would have wanted for them.  Maybe the biggest lesson for me from this years camp is that I have to be accepting of the transformation they choose for themselves.

It is their field camp, after all.