Throughout my two years in Alaska I learned from Natives, worked alongside scientists, received a NASA Space Grant, backpacked in the Chugach Mountain Range, camped along glaciers, kayaked over 150 miles across the Prince William Sound, spent multiple weeks in the wilderness, climbed up waterfalls, skied in the backcountry, just to give a taste of the stories I’ll be sharing.
Of everything these experiences taught me, I would encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone - there is reward for those that embrace the challenges!
I still remember the conversation I had with my dad in the car, “I want to move to Alaska”... “You what now?”. After many hours of discussion, persuasion, and debating with my parents, they soon had my back and were going to help me make this happen. It was no easy feat getting them on board (especially with the high bear population) I don’t think either of them was accustomed to taking these kinds of risks, but they came around to it.
Moving to Alaska from Chicago wasn’t something I expected to be easy, nor wanted it to be. As a stressed out college student studying environmental sustainability in the middle of a pandemic, I knew I couldn't sit cooped up any longer. I had to see the places I was so passionate to protect. I didn’t want to keep reading about glaciers from a book or only see wildlife when it was on the nature channel.
It was time to go.
Time to really feel something.
Time for a change.
I craved to be an outdoorsy person and have dreams of being a National Geographic Explorer, but my experience never extended beyond car camping with my dad and a few hikes in Colorado. I needed to explore what was out there and start becoming the person I was eager to be. Needing a change led me to finding a program at Prince William Sound College that introduces you to all the elements of the outdoor industry as well as being able to complete general education courses and, in my luck, environmental science courses too! The way the Outdoor Leadership degree works is you meet in the classroom throughout the week and head out to wilderness for the weekends where we learned basic backpacking, winter camping, kayaking, swift water rescue, avalanche safety, and more.
Valdez is a small town and therefore the college is a very small community. I got in contact with staff and they helped me have as seamless of a transition as possible. Valdez is located over 300 miles from Anchorage so when my mom, aunt, and I arrived after a six hour flight we rented a car, bought some goods from Walmart ( because there wouldn’t be another one), and we drove the 6 hours on August 16th to Valdez, Alaska. Our drive was through straight wilderness, we saw entire mountain ranges, wilderness as far as the eye could see, glaciers, wildlife, and vast forests! It was breathtaking how massive and overwhelmingly beautiful the world could be all on just the side of a road.
I bid farewell to my mom and aunt after they settled me into my dorm, and the moment I started taking classes I finally could feel the closeness of the community. By far the best thing to come from my experience those two years was the friendships I made. Kind of like how a team is with you through the good times and the bad, that’s how these people in my program were to me, but even more so. The 12 of us were all experiencing a life changing moment together. These are more than classmates, they’re your tent mates, you share meals together, you adventure with them, nothing can really compare to the relationships you build.
Throughout my two years in Alaska I learned from Natives, worked alongside scientists, received a NASA Space Grant, backpacked in the Chugach Mountain Range, camped along glaciers, kayaked over 150 miles across the Prince William Sound, spent multiple weeks in the wilderness, climbed up waterfalls, skied in the backcountry, just to give a taste of the stories I’ll be sharing. Of everything these experiences taught me, I would encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone - there is reward for those that embrace the challenges!
