I started my college experience a few weeks earlier than most students
by participating in the Land Sea program. On August 25, 1999, my
parents and I loaded up the car and started our trip to K. After
driving for only about 20 minutes, we hit a traffic jam, in which it took
us 1 hour to travel exactly 1 mile. I was freaking out that we wouldn't
make it to campus on time and the bus for Killarney would leave without
me. To try and calm myself, I threw in my R.E.M cd, Automatic For
The People, and played track 4, Everybody Hurts. Anyone who has ever
seen this video knows why I chose this song. Pretending I was one
of the people in the cars in the video, I could feel myself start to relax.
We finally got out of the heavy traffic and were speedily on our way to
Kalamazoo when a huge rainstorm hit us. I could barely see the car
ahead of me (REALLY bad, considering I was the one driving). It felt
like we were under a waterfall, not just in a rainstorm.
My dad, who drove in a separate car, had managed to avoid the traffic jam,
and therefore was almost to Kalamazoo when the rain hit. He called
us on the cell phone and told us which roads to stay away from because
they were flooded. Unfortunately, my mom and I did not yet know our
way around Kalamazoo, and led ourselves right onto each one of the roads
my dad had told us to avoid. Had we opened the door on many of these
roads, our car would have flooded; the water was that high. As we
approached Academy Street, I looked to the left and saw a car stuck in
the water, covered more than half of it's height by the flood. I
started shaking at the thought that we, too, would get stuck in the water.
I tried to see through the sheets of rain, desperately wanting to get to
campus and get out of the car. We finally made it to the campus in
one piece, and relieved that K sits towards the top of a hill! My
dad was waiting for us in his car, and we started unloading my things and
bringing them to my room.
I met one of my future suitemates right away, and through talking to her,
began to relax and just take in the moment. I was still questioning
my sanity for choosing to put myself not only through the pain of getting
to campus, but following it up with 17 days in the woods. My biggest
worries were being dirty for such a long time, having hairy legs (a European
I am not!), going to the bathroom where there are no toilets, freezing
to death at night, being caught outdoors in a rainstorm like the one I'd
just lived through, falling off a mountain while rock climbing, having
our boat sink, and...well, the list goes on for a pretty long time.
To make it short, I was very nervous about Land/Sea.
So, my college experience started off pretty rocky. Once I got on
the bus headed to Killarney, I started meeting new people right away.
I realized that just about everyone was as nervous as I was. We started
talking, and almost immediately I started to feel like I belonged there.
Stepping of the bus in Killarney was another story. I learned that
very soon I would be separated from the people I had just met on the bus.
I would be assigned my patrol, possibly tearing me away from the people
I had just felt so comfortable with on the bus. I looked around at
the leaders who were practically bouncing off the sides of the busses.
I was terrified of them at first, not realizing that they had spent the
past ten days in the park and were just really excited to meet all of us.
My patrol was assigned to me: Sarah Martyn, Kristin Alt, Nate Michon, Will
Birkhill and leader Justin Dart. I felt pretty good about this; I
had met Sarah on the bus and spent a lot of time talking with her.
I didnt' know the others, but at least there was one familiar face.
The first day felt like it lasted forever. I had barely slept at
all on the bus, and we arrived at the park pretty early in the morning,
so we had the whole to get adjusted to the outdoors' lifestyle. Everything
I saw was something new to me. I was trying to take so much in at
once...it was pretty overwhelming.
In high school I never felt like I really fit in. I almost always
had one or two close friends, but not very many. Because of this
I wasn't sure if the people on Land Sea would like me. I hoped I
would find the right people, but I really wasn't counting on it.
Something about being outdoors, away from everything familiar to me brought
out a side of me I never really knew had been there. I felt like
I could talk to anyone. I could share my ideas and not feel like
people would laugh at me. Once we were out there, all the false fronts
were gone. At first I was frustrated with one of the people in my
group, because he didn't talk much. After talking with other people
in my group, I realized that not everyone adjusted to the new situation
as quickly as I had. It would just take time for him to become comfortable
with us. Through a lot of group hugs, discussions, and entries in
the group journal, he started talking and sharing things with us that I
had never expected. It was a great feeling to be a part of this group.
We were open with eachother. When something was bothering us, we
let everyone know. I learned not only that people would listen to
what I had to say, but I also learned to listen to the other people in
my group. Whether it was about how they were feeling on that day,
or if it was to get everyone to pull out their maps and make sure we were
going the right way.
Our leader didn't tell us what to do, but instead showed us what some of
our options were, often using the phrase, "well, what do you think about
that"? It was up to us to decide what time to start hiking, how to
get to our next campsite, when to take a break, and what we should have
for dinner. Nothing was forced upon us. We really learned on
our first day of hiking--up the gap--what Land Sea was all about.
Challenge by choice. It became our catch phrase. Whenever we
were having a tough time getting motivated, someone would throw out "Challenge
by Choice!" and we knew that we would get going again soon. It wasn't
that we HAD to continue, but we learned that first day how good it feels
to stand on top of the Gap or later on, to watch the sunrise at Silver
Peak and say "hey, look what we just did", and that was such a great feeling.
It was such an encouraging phrase. Justin was there to assist us.
He always said he was just an observer-he was not going to give us the
answers, no matter how much we begged! Even so, I really felt like
he was a part of our group.
We didn't always get things right on the first try, but working together
and communicating--talking AND listening--really helped us. We learned
to use our compasses to know if we were heading the right way and to make
sure we hadn't somehow lost the trail. We learned share our problems
with eachother so little problems didn't build up inside us until they
became too big to handle. We learned teamwork, and leadership skills.
With all of this, we were able to conquer Land Sea.
As it ended up, I LOVED Land/Sea more than anything I've ever done before.
Being dirty was not a big deal, because everyone was just as dirty as I
was. We didn't have to deal with freak rain storms (but even if we
had, I think it would have been ok), our boat didn't sink, and I managed
to avoid falling to my death from a rocky cliff. I also met a ton
of people whom I'm sure I will know and love forever.
Returning to campus on September 12, I was ready to start the new school
year, and the newest part of my life. I brought with me new friendships
and new knowledge about myself. I knew I could not only handle living
away from home, but also come to love it. I was so excited for everything
that would be happening here at K.
Looking back on the end of my high school career, and my summer vacation,
I realize how nervous I was about starting college. I was anxious
about the workload, the people, the lifestyle. Luckily for me, Kalamazoo
College has been exactly what I was looking for. My transition has
been a smooth one, and one that I have enjoyed immensely.
Last Updated: November, 9 1999