I had the pleasure of helping teach, manage, and cook meals for a three week geology field camp in Colorado/New Mexico for several years. I first attended the camp as a student finishing off my Bachelors in Geology, and for a few years after that, I got to take part as teaching assistant and the camp cook. There are lessons to be learned, both in the role of student and my role in later years. Here is my attempt to examine some of those lessons.

First, as a student.

It’s an impressive thing when you realize how much we can tell about what is happening below the surface, and through that understanding, the ancient processes that formed the land simply by examining rocks at outcrop. Geologic principles and field methods actually being put into practice to uncover hidden structures and emplacement mechanisms give the air of magic and art to the science.  It is something that has always appealed to me. Putting that knowledge and those principles into practice myself was very exciting! It showed me what I had learned over those years of taking classes in a very practical way. It showed me that I may not know everything, but I could develop a pretty good hypothesis and defend it with what I did know. That was empowering. I also learned how to physically push myself while staying within my limits; always a valuable skill.

As a teaching assistant/student support person, the lessons are a little different. You certainly get a better appreciation for the amount of effort and planning that are required to give students the best environment possible to foster learning. You also have to come to the understanding that, even though we would love everyone to become perfect budding field geologists, not everyone is cut out for or even wants to be cut out for the field. Field camp is a great way to give people an experience. Some people will take to it naturally and see it as an opportunity to push themselves to see what they can do. Others will see it as something that has to be endured and conquered so that life can move on to other pursuits.

The real truth is, on the continuum between these two views, most people find their own ways to push themselves beyond where they might have felt they could go. It may not be what we wanted for them, but I’m not sure that it even should be. The more I consider it, the more it seems like field camp is a personal journey.

We are all confronted with the same stimuli: incredible beauty, physical challenges, obstacles, and unfortunate events. We even get to choose individually how we will classify those same stimuli for ourselves, some choosing beauty while others see an obstacle. We all also get to choose which of these things to face, and which to leave behind.

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I remember telling some of my fellow campers from my first year of field camp that I was planning to go again in a new role. Some of them congratulated me and even expressed some envy. Others gave me a shocked look and asked why I would ever want to do such a thing again.

So why did I go back multiple times, and why would I love to go again?

Is it financial? It’s a good Summer gig, but when you break down the number of hours of effort, the pay is not hard to make elsewhere for less effort. Is it an easy way to get back to such a beautiful place? Honestly, it would be easier just to pack up the whole family in the Subaru and go (which, for reference, can be a pain to do). Whining students are just as loud as whining family members, and there are usually more of them.

I think it’s the unique triple junction of natural world, humanity, and creative knowledge that make it seem worthwhile to me. There are many people, myself included, who find the field camp experience to be transformative. It’s a way to push yourself physically, mentally, and even spiritually. It’s a place where you can find out an awful lot about yourself, what you are made of, what you value, what you already know, and what you don’t know. All this within the watchful presence of guides to lead you further when you want to go….and a cook to keep you well fed!

If I can be a part of that transformative experience for someone else, I’m happy to do it. Even if their transformation is not the one I would have wanted for them. Maybe the biggest lesson I learned from years of working with others in this way is that I have to be accepting of the transformation they choose for themselves.

It is their field camp, after all.