HEART

important for our human development, and that a commitment to excellence will help people reach their full potential. At WOLF, every week presents a new challenge with a new school and a new group of kids to understand. We work with kindergarten-aged kids to high school-aged kids, and sometimes we say goodbye to one group on the same day that we say hello to another. The camping trips can last from one day to five days, weekdays or weekends, so we have a short time to build respect, care, and a clear understanding of every child. Every student comes with impressive lore, and it’s our job to sit down and unravel it.

On one trip where my trail group consisted of eleventh graders, we discussed our fears about the future.

I was responsible for reassuring them that the future is what they make of it, something other than what can be decided for them. I was a high school junior in 2016 who had never been on an overnight camping trip in my life. Now I sit with the class of 2024 (and beyond) and wonder how I can give them the skills I would’ve wanted at that age. That trip was right after the pandemic in 2020, and the kids had nihilism on their brains. They let their thoughts drift into careless non-action; they were a group that had to see their senior class get their prom and graduation ripped away from them amid the pandemic.

They spoke of distrust in our government regarding the state of the environment, LGBT+ rights, and the housing crisis. They were hopeless but still mindlessly thinking about the schools they hoped to enter for university.

Hearing their words spin tales of vast emptiness, “... but I hope I get into Univ San Fran—that’s my top choice,” was jarring, to say the least. Reshaping their anxiety surrounding these events consisted of a series of questions about dealing with life's stress.

They taught me the power of intentional thought and positive thinking. Kids are funny in that way, teaching you while they are just living their life. We ended the trip with beautiful notes of positivity and hope for the future.

I was on a trip with kindergarteners, and the whiplash between a seventeen-year-old’s and a six-year-old's actions would make your head spin. Overwhelmed by their cuteness, the day was filled with cutesy-talk, short walks, and many snack breaks. Of course, six- and seventeen-year-olds can physically and emotionally hurt each other; the only difference is that six-yearolds do it without intention. The correct response is love and understanding, even when a child is wrong and hurts themselves or others. They are too young to be disciplined—they wouldn’t understand the concept of consequences for their actions. They need extreme flexibility with their teachers and instruction because life doesn’t come to them in structure. For example, an activity where they were meant to make a scale model of a bridge out of pasta and marshmallows turned into unbelievably sticky tables and broken pasta on the floor. I know they had fun, though.

Is fun more crucial to one’s day than structured experiences?

Is fun at the root of the human experience? Is fun what life is about? These little humans make a robust case for that idea, and I think I’ve become a believer. The kids of 2030 teach me how to forgive and understand basic human needs again.

Eleventh graders and kindergarteners are two extremes, though, because I routinely work with the 5-6th grade, and it’s the closest I believe I can get to pure humanity. At its rawest—these trips are about the children exercising their self-leadership and working on team building, while going through puberty and hormonal changes. I hike with them for three hours, encourage them while climbing, and hold their hand at night when they miss their mother. I teach them that the slurs they use are harmful -I’m not afraid to call them out when they need an ego check- and I hug them goodbye at the end of it all. The best feeling in the world is gaining the students’ trust because then I can really begin to figure out why they may be acting out at school or at home. The fifth and sixth graders teach me communication, psychology, and new dance moves.

The parents of the students call on me and my staff to help raise these new generations, but the students teach me and my team, too. I have become so much more accessible, more confident, and more caring. I’m happy to participate in so many different lives while working with WOLF Adventures. Our campgrounds are surrounded by lush mountains, and much like the wildflowers that need the insects, nutrients, rain, and sun, we are responsible for nourishing our next generation of children so they, too, can bloom.

"Our campgrounds are surrounded by lush mountains, and much like the wildflowers that need the insects, nutrients, rain, and sun, we are responsible for nourishing our next generation of children so they, too, can bloom."