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A 8-day adventure by Kierra Read more
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  • TravelerCalifornia Redwoods
    Day 7

    Food Bank Volunteering

    May 16, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    We were not in the Redwoods at the time I got to meet these servant leaders but I do think they are still vital to their community. While volunteering at the food bank pop-up in San Francisco, I got to meet Liz and Edie. These two lovely women were at the front tables of the pop-up and were making sure everyone who came through the line got everything they needed and that their bags were secure. While I did not get to talk to Liz as much, Edie helped Ashley and I get acquainted with working at the front tables. Edie was very matter-of-fact and was not afraid to tell you if you were doing something that could be done better. The reason I picked these two women for this question about servant leadership is because they are purely volunteers. It was obvious to me that they have been a part of that specific pop-up location for quite some time, and they get nothing in return. They are not afraid to get their hands dirty and put in many hours of labor just to make sure the people in need get the food they need. While talking to Edie, she said that everyone loves Liz and this was proven when many people that were told to come to Edie’s table went to Liz’s instead. This was not because they did not like Edie, but Liz was everyone’s favorite. I could hear the way Liz interacted with people and she not only spoke many people’s native language, but she had also build relationships with many of the people coming through the line. She saw these people as equals even though society would view Liz as superior. Liz asked how their families were and how their lives were going, she saw them as human beings that she wanted to serve. Liz and Edie both did everything they could to keep the line going smoothly and make sure everyone got what they needed because they chose to serve their community. People like Liz and Edie are vital to communities and are people that I look up to.Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia Redwoods
    Day 5

    Treating the Trip as an Adventure

    May 14, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    This trip was very hard for me, something that I am sure was very obvious to everyone around me. I was missing my family and had just completed one of my busiest weeks of the school year, so naturally, I was ready to relax and have a break from being busy. I will willingly admit that I could have done much better about finding things to be happy and excited about on our adventure. Looking back on the trip, feeling much better with less allergies, I know that jumping in rather than worrying about all of the little things is one way to treat my job as an adventure. Prior to the trip I was very anxious about going on a trip with people I did not know very well, in a completely new place that I was not sure I would like, and not knowing what I would be able to eat. Once there, I found that I had no need to worry about any of these things. For future reference, I know that I should be more focused on the experience and not thinking of trips as an obligation, but rather as an opportunity. Even though we were working for part of our trip at various volunteer sites, we were still on an adventure. My favorite volunteer site was Sue-Meg State Park. This felt the most like an adventure to me because of working on the sides of rocky cliffs, pulling vines off of large rocks, and tearing through piles of vines and clearing enough out that we got to appreciate the native plants there. I got to go home and tell my parents that I felt like a mountain goat pulling ice plant, I got to see Trey do some Rock climbing to pull vines, and I got to see Carson run over to hold the salamander while clearing vines in another location.Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia Redwoods
    Day 5

    Volunteering with Katrina

    May 14, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Katrina was our leader at Sue-Meg State Park. Katrina has such a happy and welcoming personality that is important in her work. She works with many volunteers that help keep the park going and having a welcoming personality helps keep volunteers coming back. Katrina loves her work and is always ready to share what she has learned as well as sharing how she came to be doing what she is doing. Katrina is one of the leaders over volunteers that come help at the park. With the help of the volunteers she leads, they have a positive outcome of not only keeping the park running, but also helping the environment by giving the native plants a better chance of surviving with less invasive plants. Some contextual factors that go into this are the number of employees that work with Katrina. If there are not as many employees at a given time, there cannot be as many volunteer events. The public interest in state parks and taking care of nature is also an important factor. If there is no interest in volunteering then the park will not be able to be sustained. The government is a broad contextual factor but the government is one of the main ways state parks are funded, therefore, if the government is no longer willing to fund state parks, then the employees of these state parks will no longer be paid and will be forced to look elsewhere for employment. While state parks are also funded by donations, grants, and special funds, the government is a large part, and losing any of these sources of funds would be detrimental to state parks.Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia Redwoods
    Day 5

    Sue-Meg State Park

    May 14, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    With the service experiences in California, we really got in and got our hands dirty. The only experiences at home that I have had getting my hands dirty was fall and spring cleaning. The main difference I see in the service in California and at home is that in California it is not about making it look neat and pretty, it is about getting rid of the non-native plants that are preventing the native plants from growing. At home, fall and spring cleaning are more about making things look neat and pretty for people’s homes. In the Redwoods there was nothing “neat” about where we were, it was pure chaos of green and leafy things, but that was the whole point, letting nature do what it needs to do. All we were supposed to do is help the native plants have a better chance by getting rid of the invasive species. Another difference between the work we do at home and the work we did in California was the amount of recognition. At home people comment on what great work we have done and how their yards or homes look so nice. In the Redwoods, we were not doing work for people, we were doing work for nature. The only people that will know how much work we completed is the leaders we worked with, and anyone that works with them. The whole community will not know, and we will not get as much recognition. I found this work in nature much more rewarding and I know it is just as important, if not more important, than the work we do that gets more recognition.Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia Redwoods
    Day 4

    Old Growth on a 5 Hour Hike

    May 13, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Another contextual factor we talked about in class was the importance of old growth. While on our five hour hike as a group, we got to see a large amount of old growth. Talking about this in class made me realize there was a lot more to it than I had originally thought and it clicked for me that taking out the old stuff and planting new trees was not doing the same thing as just leaving the old stuff. When people go in and “clean up” all the old and fallen trees, we may think we are doing the forest a favor, but in reality, we just took out an immense amount of important resources for the forest. When we tear out old trees and plant new trees, the new trees have less nutrients and will likely not turn out as healthy and useful as the older trees had been. Another important part of taking out old growth, is that people would say they are planting new trees to make it seem better. It is always great to plant more trees, but unless we are actively maintaining them and giving them the best shot at surviving, they will likely die before they are even as tall as us. In many cases, new trees are planted but not maintained so there is actually no gain as all of the newly planted trees die from lack of care. By leaving old growth, these newly planted trees will likely have better odds of survival because of the rich sources of nutrients found in the old growth. Seeing the amount of old growth on our hike, with the amount of new growth prospering from this old growth was amazing to see.Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia Redwoods
    Day 4

    Redwood National Forest

    May 13, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    My leader was Arthur Carhart and he was primarily based in Colorado. This made it a bit more difficult for me to connect our trip with him. Regardless though, I did learn something about him! Arthur’s main mission was keeping the wilderness wild, he did not want people coming in and developing houses, roads, and eventually, cities. Arthur saw the beauty of the wilderness and he wanted to keep that beauty alive and healthy. While in the Redwoods, we were in some very remote places that I am sure many people have not even seen. Our group went on a five hour hike that took us deep into the forest. While my feet were hurting and my stomach was growling, I could not help but notice how beautiful it was. I noticed that the fallen logs that most would say need cleaned up, were home to new plants, mosses, and surely many animals that needed them. Seeing the forest so untouched other than the trail we were on was breathtaking and something I can never forget. Seeing all of this and recognizing its beauty and importance, helped me understand why Arthur was so set on preserving the wilderness. With less human interference, nature can do very amazing things that we do not give it enough credit for. Nature does not need people to interfere in order to thrive, nature needs people to help protect it and preserve it so it can grow and develop as it needs. After visiting the Redwoods, I can say that I appreciate the work that Arthur did much more than I could sitting comfortably in my dorm room at home.Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia Redwoods
    Day 3

    Pacific Lumber Company

    May 12, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

    The importance of logging companies and logging towns was a huge contextual factor that I noticed on our trip. With the Pacific Lumber Company, an entire town was built around the mill. There were cookie cutter houses just on the other side of the fence from the mill which were most likely used for mill employees when the mill was first in use. In class, we had talked about the importance of lumber mills to surrounding communities but driving in a town that was likely the result of the mill being built was very interesting. We could tell that the houses were close to the mill and built quickly for incoming employees. The layout of the town followed the property and fence line of the mill which was interesting to see. While in our class we did focus on the environmentalist side of things, it was also very obvious in the town by Pacific Lumber Co. that lumber companies are just as important as preserving wilderness. Lumber companies can create entire towns and help the economy stay regulated which is an important aspect of human life. While lumber companies are frowned upon by environmentalists, they are trying to do their best for their families and their towns. While the original building of the Pacific Lumber Co. looked like it was no longer in use, a newer building had been built to keep the town going. While the lumber company was the main start to this town, it brought in more people who then created banks, schools, gas stations, and other necessary things for a town, the lumber mill however, was clearly the backbone to this town. There have been many towns that turned into ghost towns quickly after a lumber mill had been shut down. Even with other businesses and buildings in a lumber town, if the mill is shut down, there is not enough left to support a whole town. Many people attempt to stay as long as they can but a grocery store will not support the entire town for jobs and income so inevitably, the town is deserted.Read more

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