My first weekend back from spring break was busy, but rewarding. On Saturday I participated in Spring Into Action. It's this awesome event put on by the Student Leadership & Service department, as well as the Alumni Association. Current students, alumni, and staff all come together for an afternoon of volunteering in and around Portland. My group went to the
Peninsula Children's Learning Center, which is this cool childcare/education program whose goal is to provide services to people of varying socioeconomic status. We spent a few hours cleaning the buildings, which was really rewarding. In school I feel like we get caught up with all of this hypothetical, mental activity, which is great, but it's nice to step back and do something physical and quantifiable once in a while. The people who worked there really appreciated our help; apparently they only have volunteers come in and do this sort of deep cleaning once a year, and it's too much for the staff to do all on their own.
Sunday, I went on another College Outdoors trip (here's where I point out how punny the title of this post is. Aren't I creative?). It was an ethnobotany and edible plants trip, and we went hiking near Catherine Creek in Washington. It was gorge-ous (get it? because it was in the gorge)! Unfortunately there weren't many edible plants, but the views were amazing, and I had fun. I was a student coordinator, so I got to practice my leadership a bit.
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| It was warm enough that I hiked in a tank top! |
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| The view of the Columbia river from our hike |
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| Difficult terrain! |
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| We stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way back, which is touristy but beautiful |
It was sunny and beautiful out, and just a nice day. I came back and had to do my homework, which I had put off all weekend, but it was worth it.
The semester is definitely winding up! I'm at the point where I only have a couple of major assignments and tests left in each class. It's refreshing to see the finish line, but I'm going to miss being here this summer!
If you have any questions, email me at rekidder@lclark.edu. I'd love to answer them!
-Rebecca
