I had a blast presenting to 7-12th grade students in Luck, Wisconsin last week! While it can be difficult to explain just "what" I do, the below outline was designed to communicate both an idea of several outdoor adventure jobs I have held, as well as the two trip experiences detailed on this blog. With the information on the those experiences came an underlying message that finding meaningful work is possible, but will require some tenacity and the courage to follow your heart. I was really impressed with the attentiveness and interesting questions by the students. If you are interested in a presentation from us on a wide variety of topics, just send us an email!
Introduction
•From Suburbs of Twin Cities
•Education AND Experience
–Major and Work/Volunteer/Clubs
–A Secret
•What do I do?
–College
–Post-College
Introduce Yourselves
•What kinds of jobs in the outdoors have you heard of?
•Which ones sound interesting?
•Any questions I could address before we start?
Outdoor Lifestyle: 2.5 Years of Fulfilling Work
•Work
–Canoe Guide
–Anathoth Farm Intern
–Assistant Geology Instructor for St. Thomas
–Outdoor Education Instructor
–Up Next: Book Writing & Wilderness Therapy in UT
•Expeditions
–Canadian Waters Expedition 2010
–Kayaking Around Lake Superior 2013
Canoe Guide
•When: June-August in 2011 and 2012
•Where: Boundary Waters of MN/CA
•WHAT? Taking young women ages 11-18 on 3-10 day wilderness canoe trips
•LOVED: Learning that you can do anything, watching people ‘germinate’, scenery, co-guides
•Challenging: work 24/7, get tired!
Organic Farm Intern
•When: September-November 2011-NOW
•Where: Near Beautiful Luck, WI
•WHAT: daily tasks associated with an organic vegetable farm and raising real good pig, chickens and steers
•LOVED: Daily work outdoors, very satisfying, incredible food, life in a sustainable community
•Challenging: some tasks, seeing what it really is like to raise and butcher meat, togetherness
•Questions?
Geology Field Camp Instructor
•When: Month of January 2009-2012
•Where: Utah, Nevada and California
•WHAT: Spend a month instructing daily fieldwork while camping/hotels across the states
•LOVED: Teaching in outdoors- so exciting, keeps you on your toes, working with college students, being paid to travel and camp and play and learn, doing science!
•Challenging: 24/7, need to find ways not to get overwhelmed being around same people
• Questions?
Outdoor Education Instructor
•When: March-June 2012
•Where: North and South Carolinas
•WHAT: Live and work on 1600 YMCA property teaching classes about outdoors, teamwork and adventure!
•LOVED: Getting paid to hike, teaching high ropes or rock climbing, working with groups to grow bonds and teach conflict resolution, living with other people my age and having the whole place to play!
•Challenging: Long hours, group dynamics of living and working together
•Questions?
Canoeing Canada 2010 (Canadian Waters Expedition)
•What? Canoeing 1300miles over 65 days with my partner while collecting water samples to test for human influences
•Why? Two Reasons:
–1) To seek adventure and freedom, space to learn and grow in the great outdoors
–2) To design and do a science study on a topic we were both passionate about: clean water
•Learning
–Posses far Great Capabilities than you can ever know
–To plan, reach for and succeed at a challenging GOAL
•Questions?
Kayaking Lake Superior 2013
•What? Kayaking ALL the way around lake Superior- 1060miles and 89 days. I did over half of it completely alone.
•Why? To reach for another challenging goal in order to make space for personal growth
•Learning
–To use your mind for good work (it can bring you through challenges or sink your ship in calm waters!)
–Trust Intuition
–Hard Stuffs Hard!
•Questions?
The Idea Here
•You can MAKE your Way
•Live an “authentic life”
•High self esteem correlates when doing what you’re meant to
•Work hard towards your dreams
•Remember the compliments! And give them generously J
•MAKE GOALS. Make them Challenging! Work towards them in little tiny bite sized pieces and eventually you can eat the whole cakeJ
•Questions for YOU
•What kinds of things do you do where time just flies and you feel like that was good work?
•When do you feel most confident taking on a task? Like- I got this!!
•What do you get excited about doing?
You Can Do IT
•YOU Are Capable of SO Much more than you even know. The only way to find it out is to push harder then you ever have! If you shoot for the moon and you miss, you will still land among the Stars.
•Take good Care of yourself
•If only do what you have already done, you will only get what you have already got
•You create your own _______
Introduction
•From Suburbs of Twin Cities
•Education AND Experience
–Major and Work/Volunteer/Clubs
–A Secret
•What do I do?
–College
–Post-College
Introduce Yourselves
•What kinds of jobs in the outdoors have you heard of?
•Which ones sound interesting?
•Any questions I could address before we start?
Outdoor Lifestyle: 2.5 Years of Fulfilling Work
•Work
–Canoe Guide
–Anathoth Farm Intern
–Assistant Geology Instructor for St. Thomas
–Outdoor Education Instructor
–Up Next: Book Writing & Wilderness Therapy in UT
•Expeditions
–Canadian Waters Expedition 2010
–Kayaking Around Lake Superior 2013
Canoe Guide
•When: June-August in 2011 and 2012
•Where: Boundary Waters of MN/CA
•WHAT? Taking young women ages 11-18 on 3-10 day wilderness canoe trips
•LOVED: Learning that you can do anything, watching people ‘germinate’, scenery, co-guides
•Challenging: work 24/7, get tired!
Organic Farm Intern
•When: September-November 2011-NOW
•Where: Near Beautiful Luck, WI
•WHAT: daily tasks associated with an organic vegetable farm and raising real good pig, chickens and steers
•LOVED: Daily work outdoors, very satisfying, incredible food, life in a sustainable community
•Challenging: some tasks, seeing what it really is like to raise and butcher meat, togetherness
•Questions?
Geology Field Camp Instructor
•When: Month of January 2009-2012
•Where: Utah, Nevada and California
•WHAT: Spend a month instructing daily fieldwork while camping/hotels across the states
•LOVED: Teaching in outdoors- so exciting, keeps you on your toes, working with college students, being paid to travel and camp and play and learn, doing science!
•Challenging: 24/7, need to find ways not to get overwhelmed being around same people
• Questions?
Outdoor Education Instructor
•When: March-June 2012
•Where: North and South Carolinas
•WHAT: Live and work on 1600 YMCA property teaching classes about outdoors, teamwork and adventure!
•LOVED: Getting paid to hike, teaching high ropes or rock climbing, working with groups to grow bonds and teach conflict resolution, living with other people my age and having the whole place to play!
•Challenging: Long hours, group dynamics of living and working together
•Questions?
Canoeing Canada 2010 (Canadian Waters Expedition)
•What? Canoeing 1300miles over 65 days with my partner while collecting water samples to test for human influences
•Why? Two Reasons:
–1) To seek adventure and freedom, space to learn and grow in the great outdoors
–2) To design and do a science study on a topic we were both passionate about: clean water
•Learning
–Posses far Great Capabilities than you can ever know
–To plan, reach for and succeed at a challenging GOAL
•Questions?
Kayaking Lake Superior 2013
•What? Kayaking ALL the way around lake Superior- 1060miles and 89 days. I did over half of it completely alone.
•Why? To reach for another challenging goal in order to make space for personal growth
•Learning
–To use your mind for good work (it can bring you through challenges or sink your ship in calm waters!)
–Trust Intuition
–Hard Stuffs Hard!
•Questions?
The Idea Here
•You can MAKE your Way
•Live an “authentic life”
•High self esteem correlates when doing what you’re meant to
•Work hard towards your dreams
•Remember the compliments! And give them generously J
•MAKE GOALS. Make them Challenging! Work towards them in little tiny bite sized pieces and eventually you can eat the whole cakeJ
•Questions for YOU
•What kinds of things do you do where time just flies and you feel like that was good work?
•When do you feel most confident taking on a task? Like- I got this!!
•What do you get excited about doing?
You Can Do IT
•YOU Are Capable of SO Much more than you even know. The only way to find it out is to push harder then you ever have! If you shoot for the moon and you miss, you will still land among the Stars.
•Take good Care of yourself
•If only do what you have already done, you will only get what you have already got
•You create your own _______