For your skimming pleasure, the key points in this lengthy post can be found in italics and or bold font. Enjoy!
This blog exists because of public education. Let me elaborate on that for you. This blog is a result of the hardworking public school teachers who dedicated themselves to providing quality education that was approachable and comprehensive without “dumbing down” the content because we were children and young adults.
This blog exists as a result of the teachers who surpassed their job requirements & made sure I understood content still, even when I was a frustrating middle school aged kid who seldom handed in work & most likely seemed disinterested in school.
This blog exists because of the wonderful English & Creative Writing teachers I’ve been fortunate enough to have both in K-12 and later in college. It is a result of the teachers who presented Trancendentalism to me in a way that didn’t make me think “woah, that’s a big word” but rather, “woah, that’s totally something I identify with, and the works of the authors associated with it make me feel like I need to get outside NOW.”
Specific shout out time: thank you to Mrs. Fennelly, Mr. Struzz, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Levy-Sisk, Dr. Annie Pluto & Jenn O’Neil (who doesn’t teach English/writing, but taught me an immeasurable about about professionalism and writing professionally).
But wait, what does writing have to do with hiking? LITERALLY EVERYTHING. Solid writing can make or break your hike. Why? Because if you’re planning your hike from reading blogs, or trail books, you’re only as informed as the people who wrote those resources.
This blog exists, as does my quest for enlightenment through exploring the natural world, as a result of the many fantastic science and history teachers I had in k-12. For all the tactile in-class labs where we studied the characteristics of different rocks, dirt, sand, or even that time we dissected squid and got to write with their ink (which seems kind of super weird now that I type this…RIP to all the squid who sacrificed their lives for science and so high school students could write with their ink)
I have a huge rock collection now, a way-too-in-depth knowledge of the functions of squid organs (and fish organs), and the ingrained understanding that the mitochondria is the “powerhouse” of the cell. In all seriousness these things have helped me just as much as the teachers who taught me them did. When on the trail, a storm can roll in at any minute, but when you know the signs to look for (upturned leaves on trees, what types of clouds are in sight, barometric pressure changes, the smell of ozone) and a decent understanding of how storm systems work, you could have the information to save your own life. Or at the very least, plan your day so you get to shelter and stay dry.
You would be surprised (or maybe not) at how much biology plays a role in long distance backpacking. Well no, that sounds obvious…you would be surprised at the amount of people ON TRAIL who have little understanding of the importance of their biology (and anatomy) on the trail. These tend to be the people whose diets for a 2,189 mile hike are 99% alcohol, ramen & candy bars, instead of things that would provide lasting fuel.
The importance of understanding what a blister is, what your body is doing by forming a blister, should be at the top of everyone’s lists, along with signs/symptoms of dehydration, hypothermia, low blood sugar, strains/sprains/breaks and your body’s basic functions. These are what will take you away from the trail, and I am proud to know I’ve been taught well by my teachers.
Specific Science Shout Outs to Mr. Gauthier, Mr. Hutchinson, Mrs. Knight & Mr. W. For their lessons in class and out & for developing projects and lesson plans that were inclusive of all different learning styles & also not being afraid to use resources like Bill Nye, MythBusters & Planet Earth as supplementary visuals.
Side note: to this day I remember being given the “directions for a lab” worksheet where it lists directions 1-7 let’s say & the first direction says something like “read this and then skip to the 7th instruction” and it either tricks you into drawing something or you realize that it says something like “don’t do anything”. Well, I totally got tricked & to this day, whenever given a syllabus/worksheet/guidebook or any other source, will read over the entire thing & make sure I understand what I’m supposed to do, instead of just starting.
So thank you for that lesson, it has prevented me from becoming a “skimmer” and helped me develop skills that I use professionally and personally (oh, and I retain information better, which I feel is part of this slowing down to get the whole picture).
I need to also thank my history teachers who gave me a frame of reference for the lands that I explore. From sleeping at the final site of Shay’s Rebellion, to hiking up mountains named in famous speeches, or through parks named for famous people, it’s like I have a time machine. Being a visual person, my mind imagines what it would’ve been like to be in these places during the events that shaped the history of their locations. I’ll be transported to the days when the very woods I’m in were used to hide slaves who were fleeing to the north, or were the stage for a skirmish that would later be noted as a turning point for one side or the other in the war itself.
You see first hand how the decisions made now are changing the natural landscapes, or how the actions of other institutions and administrations have impacted the human experience for the better or worse.
I am thankful for the art and music teachers (specifically Mrs. Keohane, Mr. Doherty, Mrs. Hanley & Mrs. Sassano) for relating music and the arts to the natural rythmns and forms that exist. I am genuinely thrilled that I know the names of different variants of colors, not just the surface level “green” or “blue”, et cetera. I swear, hiking through woods is like living in a hyper realistic painting, like you are in Bob Ross’s dreams and can’t escape (but also don’t want to).
I hear music differently now, the stories told about the history of classical music pieces will all of a sudden make sense. “Of COURSE this is winter by Vivaldi, this is what winter sounds like for real” (same with the other seasons by the way). Even just listening to the music of the earth, in the absolute cheesy, chrunchy hippy sort of way is amazing (and now I want tacos).
So…what is the point? Why did I just read/skim this SUPER long post? The point is simple. EDUCATION MATTERS. Protecting education matters. I’m lucky to have grown up enough to be at a point where all the things I have learned have finally taken root.
Inclusive education matters, tactile education matters, outdoor education matters. Access to quality information & the ability to learn from passionate and supported teachers who have access to resources and supplies IS SUPER IMPORTANT.
There would be no trails if people didn’t rally to protect them, there would be no protections for the natural world, no regulations, if students then didn’t have access to textbooks or hadn’t learned their rights, the role of science in our lives, or how to write a compelling argument.
Long story short? THANK A TEACHER, but also support teachers and help protect education. They also work like 30 extra hours a day (yeah that’s right, 54/7 not 24/7) and are often asked to do the most, with the very least.
ALSO: super fast shout out to Librarians. Your knowledge and dedication to preserving the written word (and therefore our history) is often overlooked, but I see you & honestly, long live the libraries 🙂
SIDE NOTE: LEARN CPR/FIRST AID/WILDERNESS MEDICINE/BASIC MENTAL HEALTH CARE & SELF CHECKS
Heading North 