Colorado Outward Bound School Analysis

Change make us feel alive because it is the essence of every living thing. Chris MacCandless and Timothy Treadwell desperately needed a change in their lives in order to escape from their past unpleasant experiences and problems and they found their solution in the wilderness. Leaving the human word of comfortable excesses and surrendering their fates to nature empowered them to gain back a feeling of control over their lives. When your life is under a constant threat and you push yourself to your limits trying to survive in the wild, you start looking at many things differently than in normal circumstances. Wilderness can be a perfect place to find a peace in your mind and help you find your answers, but it is also a dangerous place that you

So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. (56-57)”

It was June 16th, 2008 and I was home with my grandma and my mom and dad came home. With a face that I have never seen before. My mom brought a baby boy named Zack. I heard my mom and dad talking about how my mom had to quit her job because she couldn’t put me in day care cause the weren’t taking care of me, and she had to take care of zack so she decided to quit her job to take care of us. Also heard my mom and dad in our small kitchen about not having space for Zachary. They had a conclusion we were going to move.

Attending college, beginning a career, starting a family, and ultimately getting trapped in a daily routine are components in life that many see no means of escape. The lure of living off the grid with no responsibilities or connections to adult life are attractive but unattainable to most people. The experiences of Chris McCandless chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, mystify the nation, along with many of the people he meets during his journey. From stories of those who meet McCandless along the way, people were able to put the pieces together and make a few assumptions for the reason he chooses to go into the wild. Individualism, living a minimalistic life, nonconformity, going into nature, and trusting oneself are fundamental Transcendentalist principles that McCandless also exemplifies. Two well-known proponents of the Transcendental movement, writers Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson, also have a strong connection to nature, that are also shown in Chris McCandless’s journey. This connection with nature requires someone to go into nature to clear the mind of meaningless things, and to open up their consciousness to what nature has to offer them. In doing so, a bond with their surroundings that has a direct impact on their well being and mental wellness. Chris McCandless, as described by Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, demonstrates becoming one with nature through nature’s impact on his well being and mental health.

As many Americans know, the status of non-white Americans can be a gray area. Police brutality puts a spotlight on this gray area, with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the use of media to promote differing perspectives. “Negrotown” takes the perspective against police brutality to another level by introducing a utopian-like community with only Black people. The viewer follows the main character around a fantasy environment before he realizes he’s still arrested in the real world. The comedic short film “Negrotown” by Key & Peele uses satire, specifically situational irony to highlight the discriminatory treatment of African-Americans in the criminal justice system.

However, I looked back to actually reflect what could make me happy in life and realized I did not need to go far in foreign countries to make a difference in the world. This realization hit me when my environmental science teacher suggested the class to volunteer and help plant a prairie by the Telge science center. Automatically, I was hooked. I brought my sisters along and planted near the science center where the district placed FFA livestock shows. Incidentally, I was surprised to make a difference to a place I was familiar to and all I had to do was open myself to helping others. As an agricultural teacher, I could continue learning over the several breeds of livestock, modern technology, beneficial insects and plants within the environment, because the proximity of nature will always be around me. I didn’t even need to leave the state or even the district to make scientific and environmental

Fortunately and unfortunately, I am a product of charter schools. I attended Achieve Charter Academy from fifth grade to eighth grade. I joined the first year that it opened, leaving all my elementary friends right before graduation. Over the course of the four years I was in multiple advanced courses and performing well. By eighth grade I was in geometry that counted towards high school credit, and feeling good about my academic path. I am grateful of this, but it did not prepare me well for the future years to come. The way we learned was very basic. There was not as much rigor as there would be in a class of that extent. I was never really challenged during the course of the year. I entered high school with high hopes. Unfortunately the

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, central figures of Transcendentalism, expressed their beliefs through works such as “American Scholar” and “Into the Woods” in the nineteenth century. They believed that one must be in simplicity, solitude, and away from technology to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is essential for a better spiritual understanding of oneself. Transcendentalism, which focuses on spiritual interactions with nature, is relevant in today’s hectic life with temptations of materialistic goods and burdens of technology. The retreat that Webb offers every year is a good example of how Transcendentalism shapes students to have spiritual richness and mental strength. On retreats, students go off campus with bare necessities for three days to camp sites in nature to reflect and appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. Viewed through the lens of Transcendentalism, retreats allow students to prepare for a new and busy school year to come by helping them to realize their own goals, to get rid of distractions of technology, to get inspired by nature for a better understanding of themselves, and to enjoy a moment of solitude to truly reflect on the deeper meanings of life.

It is often noted that one can never truly understand the beauty of life until they go and experience it. This idea parallels with getting to know who they really are and figuring out what their purpose in life genuinely is, which not many people cannot comprehend. Everyone has different fears, desires, and feelings, but not until you live a life of new experiences do you harness your true self. Growing through experiences and connecting with nature allows someone to more deeply reflect on their individual purpose on Earth and discover their own definition of happiness. Henry David Thoreau comments on this even further by proposing that the disconnection from a society in which we are comfortable is the only way to cultivate an understanding of ourselves. Chris McCandless sets out on an adventure in a life absent of routine to push his boundaries and prove that he could make it on his own, finding the meaning of life in the process. Henry David Thoreau’s statement “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves”, is correct, as evidenced by Jon Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild.

    When Geoffrey Chaucer undertook the writing of The Canterbury Tales, he had a long road ahead of him. He intended to tell two stories from each of thirty pilgrims on the way to Canterbury, and then two more from each pilgrim on the way back from Canterbury. Of these, he completed only twenty-four. However, in these tales, Chaucer depicts both the pilgrims and their stories with striking realism. In "The Nun's Priest's Tale," "The Canon's Yeoman's Tale," "The Friar's Tale," "The Reeve's Tale," and "The Cleric's Tale," Chaucer demonstrates his remarkable insight into human nature. By comparing and contrasting these tales, one can see the universality of human nature as shown by Chaucer.

Imagine yourself walking thru the wilderness, the leaves crunching underneath your feet, birds singing in the distance, squirrels playing in the trees… Are you in a happy place? This is my happy place. I got to this place by backpacking. I started backpacking a few years ago out in Connecticut with some friends. Before we got into backpacking we started doing research by looking online and going to

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. This quote by John Burroughs describes my diversion, outdoors. The outdoors is a place to free myself of all of my stresses and step away from urban living. The activities that I am participating in do not matter, as long as it is a new experience. Whether it is volunteering, trying a new restaurant, or simply going to the park, I appreciate the open-air on a beautiful sunny day. At the FSU reservation I would be able to swim in Lake Bradford on the hot days or rock climbing on the wall available on the site to destress or just to enjoy or a short getaway. Being outdoors also presents me with the opportunity to partake in the simple aspects of life that I would normally take for granted and take notice of the condition of my community.

It has also brought me closer together with my family and friends through support, kindness, and conversation. Being in the outdoors and participating in hiking has also molded my character. It has taught me to be focused, driven, and dedicated; not just during a hike, but during anytime in life that I may be pursuing a dream or goal. I feel very blessed to have grown up in a family who has created many pleasant memories in the wilderness. Hiking is a lifestyle for me now and it’s taught me so many important life lessons without me even noticing. I’m glad I’ve had so many wonderful experiences in nature and I know that I will continue this tradition with my father for many years to come, because there’s still many more miles to go and more adventures to chase

Knowing Our Place is and excerpt from Barbara Kingsolver’s SMALL WONDER. The excerpt is basically all about the places where her life stories and where important times in her life take place. They all end up having to take place in the wilderness in a small town, in a small house in the middle of nowhere; where she had actually grown up. She talks about how her log cabin at the end of Walker Mountain is near tobacco plants and also how it has old historic nature to it. She talks about how she loves the rain and how it sounds in her little log cabin house that was built in the early 1900’s. She grew up and spent most her childhood in these woods filled with neighbor’s miles away and

a. “Experiences in nature can result in a direct increase of various forms of happiness or well-being, in addition to increasing well-being via satisfaction of basic psychological needs” (p. 374).