Hannah McHardy’s route to Sterling College was a circuitous one. Originally from New Orleans, Hannah spent most of her high school years in Bentonville, Arkansas (1,529 miles away). However, Hannah opted to spend her senior year at The Nova Project, an alternative high school in Seattle, Washington (3,077 miles away).
Hannah took a year off between high school and college to work for the Rainforest Action Network and the Heritage Forest Campaign. After completing this forest activism work, she took the spring and summer to travel around Southeast Asia before making her way to Craftsbury Common to start the fall semester.
Forestry might not be the first class you’d expect someone like Hannah (who worked tirelessly for forest preservation in the Northwest) to jump into. However, Forestry is one of Hannah’s favorite courses this semester, “The knowledge that I gained about forest ecosystems while protecting ancient forests in the Northwest inspired me to enroll in a forestry class at Sterling and challenge my stance on forest issues. By taking this class, I’ve really been able to become familiar with the forests of the east and the completely different issues they face.” |
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Although closer to Craftsbury than Arizona and Oregon, Jason Miller comes from Co-op City Bronx, New York. One of the main factors that influenced Jason’s decision to come to the College was the chance to work with animals on the Sterling College Farm.
When asked if living in Craftsbury Common was a big change for him, Jason explained, “The biggest adjustment has been getting along without basic city life—no easy convenient shopping or easy access to just go anywhere. I don’t have what I use to have, but on the other hand I get to learn about how people in the country live.”
Jason is a role model for his friends back home, “People look up to me because not one of them would want to take the risk of coming up here and living this kind of life style.” |
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Another Oregonian, Jaime Crabb, traveled 3,084 miles from Portland, Oregon, to attend Sterling College. Like all Sterling students, Jaime has a strong affinity for being in the outdoors. During her high school summers she worked for Northwest Youth Corps doing trail work. This past summer she decided to get a head start on living in Vermont by working on a leadership crew for the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.
Jaime misses some aspects of living in the city, but is adapting to life in Craftsbury. “My parents wanted me to go somewhere that would look out for me,” she commented, “I really like how people notice what’s going on with you and [the Sterling College community] really cares.”
All first year students take some Core Courses when they arrive at Sterling College. One of these courses is Tools and Their Application. As Jaime explains, the learning in this course goes beyond the practicality of becoming proficient with basic tools, “Tools class is also about my classmates and getting to know them in the context of learning in this area. Above all, it’s also about having fun while working! Singing on the way back from a very wet, mucky, and muddy hour of spreading hay on ski trails shows me that being here is the right place for me.” (click here to return to News and Views)
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