My name is
Jessica Kostka and I hail from Auburn, California. I’m a first-year student here at L&C,
which means I don’t have to choose a major yet – thank goodness! I’m juggling
the idea of studying either SOAN (which is what we call Sociology and
Anthropology) or English, so I am currently taking one class in each of those
departments – Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Introduction to Poetry
and Poetry Writing. I am also in Exploration and Discovery, which is the
required humanities course for all first-year students, and Deep Space
Astronomy. I originally took that class to fulfill my General Ed science
requirement, but it is so fascinating that I am actually toying with the idea
of trying to take more classes in the Physics department and maybe even minoring
in Physics! Crazy, I know. I just love learning about the structure and origin
of the universe and supernovae and nuclear fusion! The only problem is that I
have a very “love-hate” relationship with math. I guess I don’t have to figure
it out just yet. Anyway, I’ll tell you all more about my classes in another
entry. Right now I want to tell you about how amazing College Outdoors is!
After much deliberation, I
decided to go on the Backpacking the Wallowa Mountains New Student Trip even
though I had only been backpacking once before, back in California when I was
9. The Wallowa Mountains are in Eastern Oregon (near the border with Idaho about 8 hours away from Portland) and are incredibly beautiful. Even though I
had my doubts beforehand (since I was such a novice), that trip was the most
rewarding experience I have ever had. There is no more powerful catalyst for
friendship than coping with terrifying lightning storms and steep, steep trails
while being surrounded by nature and great camp food. It was a fantastic way to
bond with people in a deep way and make lasting friendships before I even got
to campus. But don’t let me bore you with the touchy-feely stuff. Have some pictures!
Our first campsite was in this
meadow surrounded by mountains. The mountain behind the tents here was calling
to us, so we decided it would be a good idea to climb it. We thought it would
take just a few hours.
Famous last words. It took SEVEN
hours and was way steeper than we thought it would be. Also, the summit in the
picture above was a false summit, meaning the mountain was much taller than we
could see from camp. Here is a picture of Forrest and Marielle about halfway
up. Even though we didn't make it all the way to the top because of how steep
it was, you can see we had some great views. We could see a whole second ridge
of mountains and some lakes that were too high to be visible from the meadow.
That hike was probably the
toughest part of the whole trip and we were all glad to be back safely. After
camping at the meadow for another night (which was when the lightning storm
hit), we moved on to Cached Lake and Heart Lake, which were even more beautiful
– especially because the weather cleared up!
Out of all the things we ate, my
favorite was the pizza. It was incredible. There were so many good things we brought
to put on it, like avocado, high-quality sharp white cheddar cheese, chicken,
peppers, onions… Fabulous. I made mine into a calzone.
Here’s a picture of Mariah’s
pizza.
So College Outdoors pretty much
has the best trips ever. Beautiful locations and top-notch food, just like a
five-star resort! Well, not really. Backpacking is a lot of work, and everyone
is expected to carry their own weight on a trip (pun intended). But you don’t
have to have tons of experience to have a great time backpacking. I’m living
proof of that. However, if backpacking is really out of your comfort zone,
there are also lots of other New Student Trips, like service trips based in Portland or trips where students stay in
cabins in various locations. Then there are lots of trips during the year such
as day hikes at the coast or at Mt. Saint Helens and even a yoga retreat
weekend! These are actually very affordable for students as well. You can also
get involved with College Outdoors by being a student coordinator or trip
leader.
Stay tuned for my entry next
week! I’ll tell you more about my classes and also about what it’s like to live
on campus! Feel free to shoot me an email at jessicakostka@lclark.edu if you have
any questions. I’ll leave you with this picture of our whole group that Jamey took right before we
embarked on the long drive back to campus. That’s me in the middle wearing red.
