Montana Day 8: Snow

Montana = Bears and Snow
It appears that my friends, family, and students were right... Montana = Bears and snow. Yes, within a week I've seen a bear and it has snowed. I am okay with it though... because Montana awesome.

Orientation
This week we went to Camp Paxton near Seeley Lake for our Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) orientation. There are about 100-200 young adults that have moved to Montana this summer to serve all over the state. Such a fascinating group of young adults - students right out of high school, 20-something hippies, environmental science majors, and others just looking for a way to serve and engage in their community (I am a 20-something hippie of course... ha). A lot of kind hearts for sure, which makes for a warm and fuzzy experience - I am proud to work with this group of young adults.

I received an Americorps T-shirt on Monday, which makes this all official. It is a part of my uniform, complete with carhartt work pants, hiking boots, leather gloves, and a bright yellow hard hat (Pictures to come, I promise!)

I took an oath to Americorps on Thursday(the MCC is a subset of Americorps). At first I was a little unnerved by the oath... I try to avoid oath-taking if possible. When I heard the oath, however, I was glad to participate:

"I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy,
I will take action.

Faced with conflict,
I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity,
I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment
with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done."

What I'll be doing this summer:
I will actually be working in the Boise National Forest (yes, Boise is in Idaho, not Montana, but it's only about a 7-8 hour drive from our regional office. I am on a crew with 5 other individuals and we will be working in the "backcountry" (that's what the cool kids call it) for 20-23 days at a time. Yup, we will pack food, clothing, and any other survival gear for 20-23 days and stay out in the woods/mountains the entire time. We will be building bridges, trails and maintaining old trails. It's warmer and dryer in this region - less bugs and more sun, I'll take it!

Training this week:
Wednesday is Bear-training (among other wilderness survival training =). We leave for our first 20 days on June 7th. Idaho wilderness, here we come!

-Julie