| Winter Expedition: Teaching Confidence to Venture into the Unknown |
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On December 10th, 33 students and 7 faculty and staff members, including Ned Houston, headed into the woods to begin Winter Expedition 2005. It was my second; I completed my first Expedition when I enrolled at the College in 1998. During this particular Winter Expedition, which was Ned’s 28th annual, I celebrated my 28th birthday! Each day we would hike, slowly following the lead of whichever group was navigating the way, using a map and compass. Some veteran professors could navigate with their eyes closed, using intuition as their guide. But for students, taking an azimuth, carefully reading the contour lines on the map, breaking trail, and being a leader are the keys to success. |
I had forgotten how challenging it really is, after all it had been 7 years since I embarked on Expedition as a student. I felt like I was well seasoned at this point in my life and could handle the challenge with ease. I knew what had to be done, but forgot how difficult and frustrating tasks like splitting wood or lighting a fire can be when your fingers are cold. At the end of each day we would venture into camp. Mimicking busy little ants, we would scrounge for wood, flatten out a sleeping site, set up our tarps, buck up fire wood with bow saws, split wood, stack wood, buck up and split more wood, then start cooking and drying our clothes over the fire. One of the biggest challenges for me was the temperatures. Overall, the weather was somewhat forgiving. We were blessed with some sunshine as well as a few brief snow showers. However, I was mentally and physically drained by the constant cold. The last day was filled with anticipation—anticipation for a hot shower, anticipation for a cozy chair to rest our weary legs, and anticipation for some good home-cooked Sterling food! My final lunch in the woods consisted of a frozen PB&J, a frozen chocolate bar, frozen cookies, and a Winter Expedition delicacy, wood-smoke flavored water. |
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Ned Houston feels it is important for faculty and staff to be a part of expedition so students can see them in a new context. It's a “unifying experience” for the College. Ned also believes the timing of Winter Expedition, at the end of first semester, is crucial. “Students can go home with expedition fresh in their minds and reflect on the rest of the semester. Winter Expedition teaches us organization, team work, and the confidence to venture into the unknown.”
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The lessons of expedition go well beyond four days in the Lowell Mountains. Many concepts, which are learned before, during, and after expedition, are used on a daily basis in the Sterling community. Students become problem solvers. They learn how to be productive leaders and how to be good followers. Patience is a virtue to have during Winter Expedition and a great skill to have for later on in life. Students learn how to set realistic goals and modify them when it is necessary. As Ned Houston points out, “Each group that goes out on expedition is walking a long line of thousands of students before them.” You can almost hear the voices of the past as you traverse the mountains.  |
Quotes from Erik's Expedition Journal Day One: Day Two: We skirt the peak of hairy softwoods and have lunch in the nicest ridge-top, gully moose-yard. I share cheese with smiling faces and eat body thawed sausage and peanut butter honey sandwiches. Day Three: Day Four: Longest trek of the trip; we are on and off old logging roads, through brush, beaver ponds, and wilderness area all the way to the road and the Catamount Trail. We are only as fast as our slowest members, despite how much energy some of us have. Return Home: -Erik Gillard, 2006 |
From Liza Sprout’s Expedition Journal 12 December 2005 After Odie, Dan, and Colin settled into their “burrito bags”, I stayed up tending to our dying fire. I kept it alive for hours, burning one stick of wood at a time, blowing life into it religiously. Thoughts were swirling around my head like the constant smoke from the fire. I managed to find a scrap of paper and a pen in my pack and in my overtired, near delirious state I wrote the following. Even this pen is too cold to work properly tonight. What is this Sterling mission? |
