Student Reflections

Student Reflections on Winterim, Partners in the Park, and Honors Semester Experiences

WINTERIM

2012

The Amazon

by Josh Dell’Aria, Anna Maria College

So, I remember leaving thinking, “Well, I’m just doing this to complete my study abroad requirement at school.  I’ll just do the work they ask me to do, and then I’ll leave with no effect on me.”  Boy, was I ever wrong! Continue Reading

Peru

by Nathan Farkas, Queens College

There are few experiences as awesome as standing on the top of an observation tower in the middle of a thunderstorm. Sixty feet up, soaked to the bone, in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest, I was treated to a show that I will never forget. However, what was really meaningful was my snap decision to say yes. Continue Reading

The Peruvian Amazon: My Home Away From Home

by Beth Weinstein, Queens College

As a student on the Amazon Winterim in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, I was shocked to learn that there was a Jewish community living in the city of Iquitos. Being a Jew myself, to learn that people of my own faith were residing in this remote location on the edge of the jungle, was a bit of an enlightening moment. Continue Reading

Amazon Reflection

by Victoria Abolencia, Long Island University–Brooklyn

Spending an entire winterim in the Peruvian Amazon was certainly not an experience I was prepared for; however, despite my initial culture shock, the experience itself was by far the most rewarding and eye opening experience I have ever had in my life. There I was, a native city dweller, being thrown into the middle of the Amazonian jungle. I was stripped of all technology and material possessions and immersed in a world sustained by the earth and the earth alone. Continue Reading

Peru: Amazon

by Lindsey Walker, Long Island University–Brooklyn

I will forever remember winter break of 2011-2012 as the most heart-wrenching, eye-opening, and self-humbling experience of my life. I have never lived so deeply and honestly as I did during my time spent in Iquitos, Peru as part of the NCHC Amazon Winterim. Boarding my first international flight, I had no idea that the girl who would return inhabiting the same body and carrying the same passport would actually be someone entirely different. Continue Reading

PARTNERS IN THE PARK:

2012

Less is More: Grand Canyon-Parashant

by Lauren M. Denio, Westfield State University (Mass.)

Another inch and I’m dead. Falling three thousand feet into the Colorado River probably won’t hurt, but I’ll be falling long enough to know my imminent fate. As deadly thoughts race through my head, I squirm away from the edge. This is not the touristy view deck of the Grand Canyon. This is the place where you test every step before you take it; look around every corner; and most importantly look out for each other. I finally find my feet and shake the dust off the front of my shirt. Lying belly down at the edge of the Earth was enough to make me sick. The Grand Canyon- Parashant leaders of Southern Utah University do it with ease. Some of the other participants are also braver than I am and walk precariously along the edge of gigantic rocks that have formed together into cliffs. With my heart in my throat, I turn away, not wanting to witness someone plummet into oblivion. Continue Reading

Partners in the Park: US Virgin Islands

by Pananya Kamkourkong, Felician College

When hearing the words “national park,” many people think of a place that has  unique beauty. They go there to camp, picnic, and enjoy the nature. Often times, people ignore the historical, scientific, and cultural aspects of the reservation area. The Partners- in-the-Park program offers honors students a learning experience outside the classroom at the national parks throughout the country. Continue Reading

NYC: City of Stories

by Sarah Montanari, Shippensburg University

I am not a stranger to New York City.  Yet even the most familiar places have mystery and magic to be discovered when routine is abandoned and the ordinary is elevated as sublime. On the first evening of the program, we were encouraged to avoid the standard group tourist pictures and instead focus our lenses on the everyday characters of the places we were to visit.  Underscoring this encouragement was a challenge to stretch beyond a passive tour of our environment and instead aspire for an active presence during our explorations. Continue Reading

2011

Smoky Mountains

by Julieann Hartley, Anna Maria College

It was kismet. There have only been a few times in my life that I felt with certainty I was in exactly the right place at the right time. Ironically, I had originally planned to attend the Grand Canyon trip. During the month of April I checked the availability for the trip each day while I finished making arrangements with my school. The very hour before I went to sign up, the trip filled up. Being the only trip still available, I quickly signed up for the Smoky Mountain Adventure. My infelicitous timing ended up being fate. Continue Reading

Darkest of Night Skies

by Angel Ng, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus

One, two, three, four…there are countless numbers of stars in the sky of Great Basin National Park and such an experience is so different from what I see in the everyday New York City sky. In August of 2011, I participated in a program, sponsored by Partners in the Parks, at the Great Basin National Park in Baker, Nevada.  Visiting Great Basin was a remarkable experience that truly expanded my mind. Throughout most of the trip, I lived outdoors in the mountains. Although I feared for the wild animals that could have attacked the tent during nighttime, I was grateful for being out in nature and disconnecting from technologies such as computers and cell phones. Continue Reading

Great Basin National Park

by Madeline McKain, Point Park University

At over 13,000 feet above sea level my lungs were gasping for air but I was just within reach of the mountain peek and a view that I will never forget.  I have lived on the east coast my entire life and have never been west of the Mississippi or to a National Park.  When I heard about the opportunity to spend a week at Great Basin National Park in Nevada I jumped on it.   I left my small farm town at 3am to take three different planes across the United States to go camping with 18 people I have never met.  Some thought I was crazy but I saw it as an adventure of a lifetime.  This trip brought me outside my comfort zone in many ways but by doing this it made me a stronger individual who has a new respect for the wilderness and those who preserve and protect it. Continue Reading

A Week in the Smokey Mountains Can Cure Anything

by Lori Linsenbigler, Community College of Allegheny County

Before arriving in Ashevillle, a lot had danced and played with my mind.  Worries of buying a house and securing employment had demoralized and discouraged me.  A few months earlier I agreed to go on the Partners in the Park trip to the Smokey Mountains with the idea that it would be a nice week away from everything.  I was right and wrong. Continue Reading

2010

A City Slicker Hikes The Grand Canyon

by Zimmad Imam, Long Island University, Brooklyn

No shower, lack of cleanliness, flat tires, ravaging mosquitoes, extreme heat, and dehydration—these are all excuses that the person I was before my Partners in the Parks trip might have made to avoid camping. That person no longer exists. Instead the person I am after Partners is one who has a completely different view of nature. The Grand Canyon-Parashant trip, organized by Partners in the Parks, was an experience of a lifetime, especially for someone who has lived in cities all his life. As a city-slicker I did not care much for nature. I was accustomed to hearing negative things about camping outdoors, and about those who attempted to protect the environment and preserve nature. At the first sight of wilderness my preconceptions changed instantly. It is mesmerizing to gaze down the steep and narrow canyons and to stare up at the wide night sky full of sparkling stars. The scenic views were mesmerizing, but I also learned a whole lot about how to survive in the wilderness as well how to work with others I had never met with before. . Continue Reading

My Incredible Journey to Zion National Park

by Angela Calise, C. W. Post Campus, Long Island University

A year ago I would have never imagined that I could be here in Zion overlooking these magnificent canyons where everything is bigger than me, where I am a speck in the workings of things. A year ago I had spine surgery for a herniated disc. Before the surgery I couldn’t walk; I could barely stand. After the surgery I wanted to walk, to run, to climb a mountain! And that’s exactly what I did. Continue Reading

Alaska’s Denali National Park

by Rachel Mahler, C. W. Post Campus, Long Island University

For most of my life I have dreamed of exploring the backcountry of Alaska. The thought of unpolluted, untouched terrain, unharmed habitats thrills me to my very core.  I was very fortunate to have been offered an opportunity to explore Denali, Alaska through the Partners in the Parks program and the scholarship that I received through the Northeast Regional Honors Council. Without that assistance I could never have made the trip.  Camping in the Alaskan backcountry is an experience that will remain with me for my entire life. Continue Reading

by Laura Markowitz

I was fortunate enough to attend the Partners in the Park visit to Denali, Alaska.  This experience was beyond all my expectations.  I have traveled to various places in the United States over my lifetime, and have enjoyed experiencing the different paces that people live in their environment.  So when I arrived in Fairbanks in the middle of the night two huge bears in glass cases welcomed me.  Then I stepped outside to a completely quiet atmosphere.  There was no traffic; there was a beautiful sky that was just at dusk, even though in reality it was after midnight.  Coming from New York City this was heaven.  To be able to think and breath for more then a quick moment felt wonderful. Continue Reading

by Paula Sucharski, C. W. Post Campus, Long Island University

On August 7, 2010, I boarded the third flight of my life. My first experience away from home came in May of 2009 when I went with students and faculty from the C. W. Post Honors program on a study tour to Hawaii.  This was the first time I ever boarded an airplane—my second flight being the one to return home. The experience was so liberating that it gave me the courage to apply for Partners in the Parks. Continue Reading

2009

Acadia National Park, Maine

by Juste Gatari

One would wonder what could bring people from different parts of this country that had never met before to find themselves bound in one spirit in just a period of one week. Well, purpose could be a good reason, so the purpose that brought us to Acadia National Park this summer of 2009, was nothing else than wonder–questions that we ask ourselves in our daily life when we question our nature, our surroundings, Life in general. It’s obvious that we seek answers in the nature itself as well. And that’s all man’s institutions are all after; questioning Nature. So it was quite a remarkable experience to find interdisciplinary personalities meet on a particular subject, which is our environment, and find how we all have common questionings no matter how diversified we are in this world.

Black Canyon, Colorado

by Pavel Goriacko

This trip was a very enriching experience; I feel like similar trips should be a part of every person’s education. Having never been out West before, my eyes were opened to a new kind of geography, climate, nature, and lifestyle. I am glad that I got to experience the West for the first time this way. I could have just went to a major city and stayed in a hotel room for a week. Instead, I lived in close contact with nature around the Black Canyon. This helped me not only understand but experience how geography and climate affect lifestyle and culture of people in the region. Continue Reading

A Reflection on my Trip to Black Canyon

By Justine Bach

During my Partners in the Parks trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado, I learned and experienced many new things.  Aside from spending time in a place I’ve never visited before, the trip was a great educational experience.
We had many different lectures and workshops with Honors professors and with Park Rangers from the National Park.  We did writing exercises to put us more in touch with our senses, took hikes at the canyon rim, and had a great poetry workshop.  We learned the incredible story of Torrence and Fellows, who were the first two people to fully explore the Black Canyon.  At the end of our trip we even had a performance by a Cowboy poet. We were taken out of our element and brought to a place we had never been; we slept on the ground and cooked every meal together in small groups.  At night, I remember being amazed at hearing coyotes howling.
The most interesting thing I learned was the displacement of Native Americans by European Americans when the National Parks were being established.  Though the National Parks are an important conservation effort, and an important part of American culture, while they were being established many Native Americans were driven out of the land they had lived on in order to make it into park property. Overall, I learned a lot from this experience that I would not have learned from a regular classroom setting.