Family and Friends -
Well, my time at Northern Tier in Atikokan as Business Manager has come to an end. It was a long, hard, fun summer, full of good memories, great people, and times to be cherished in the years to come. It was tough leaving, knowing that Northern Tier and the town of Atikokan will always hold a special place in my heart. I will certainly miss being at camp and in Canada :(
On Tuesday August 13th I traveled home from Atikokan. After an extremely long day of driving, only stopping when crossing the international border, I got to see many family and friends. It was so great to be able to see some of you during my very short time home. The 36 hours went quick and included running errands getting ready for school, going to appointments, and packing my life into "my" car..Thanks Mom and Dad :) It was quite the whirlwind, but after a day and two nights I was back out the door and on the road.
On Thursday August 15th I traveled from the Twin Cities up to Alberta, Michigan, where I will be spending the semester. As I have explained to some before, for my degree program (as well as two other programs) the fall semester of your Junior year is spent participating in the Integrated Field Practicum (IFP) curriculum, which is held at the The Ford Center in the village of Alberta, Michigan. IFP is better known to some as Fall Camp. This is a semester of outdoor classes and hands-on learning. We go outside every day, the skills and terrain are difficult at times, but in the end I think it will be good. It is really cool that we utilize the natural environment around as as our classroom. I am enjoying the people and the learning and it should prove to tough, but a satisfying opportunity.
Though not as prevalent or involved as being a member of Res Life on campus, I am an RA (Resident Assistant) here in the residence hall at the Ford Center. There are only 29 residents, and they are all my age or older, so it should be a fairly low key semester :)
Living in a new town comes with learning the "sites". Pats Foods, Frosties (ice cream place), the fruit stand, and the zip code 49946 have now entered my vocabulary. As has Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Canyon Falls roadside park. Canyon Falls is a cool water fall along the Sturgeon River just a mile south of the village. It has a nice walking trail as well as a good place to go cliff jumping. I have not ventured off the cliff myself, but we have gone to the park multiple times to hangout and enjoy being outside.
Though age does not hold great significance to me, it should be mentioned that I am no longer a teenager and have entered my twenties...yikes! On Wednesday Anna and I went back up to Houghton and we went out to Applebees with friends to celebrate with appetizers and dessert. It was lots of fun to see friends and hangout for my birthday!
The first week of classes went well. My classes include: Land Measurements and GPS, Multi-Resource Assessment, Survey of Silviculture, Forest Health, Geomorphology and Vegetation, and Insect Ecology. The schedule here is only one class a day and that class lasts the entire day. So, with that said, I have not had all of these classes yet, but I think I'm going to particularly enjoy Survey of Silviculture and Multi-Resource Assessment!
Food is part of my meal plan during the week but not the weekends. So, this weekend included some cooking and baking :) The weekend also included taking a field exam to test my skills of taking tree heights and diameters, determining species identification, the use of a compass, and pacing out distances. Saturday morning some friends and I went birding and took a hike on some of the land Michigan Tech owns. While hiking we found a huge patch of wild blueberries. We ate a lot, picked some, a made blueberry muffins. Mmm...good! Look for pics eventually!
Today was very hot, but relaxing. It was nice to be able t be outside without a set agenda (as it has been all week). The first two weekends and week have been a definite adjustment but have been overall good.
Remember the blessings in your life and thank the people who make a difference! Wishing you a wonderful remaining week of August!
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