– Jennifer Campbell-Smith, Ph.D., Science Educator
Watershed educator, Jennifer Campbell-Smith, embodies ‘adventure and wonder’ and weaves the ‘inquiry and community’ pillars of Watershed’s mission into her daily life. Jenn is off to Alaska this week and next to volunteer for the Iditarod. Read on to learn what she cherishes about this experience, why she returns, and how she feels it links with her experience of Watershed!
Sleeping on the floor of community centers, traveling via four-seater prop planes, balancing on a sledge pulled by a snow machine, and standing in -40° temps for a few hours in the middle of the night are not most people’s idea of a relaxing getaway. Volunteering for the Iditarod, out on the trail, is anything but relaxing.; It is coordinated chaos punctuated by the howls of hundreds of excited huskies who want nothing more than to go, go, GO! It is a round-the-clock job of reporting information to the race headquarters in Anchorage, predicting when the next musher will arrive at your checkpoint so you can cram in some sleep, and keeping the coffee pot filled. It is one of my most favorite things to do in March every year. I get to see Alaska as the rugged, unforgivable wilderness that it is. I get to meet incredible people, spend time in places where there are more dogs than humans, and experience the arctic in its full, brutal glory. There is nothing like the sudden appearance of the Northern Lights, your mind unsure if your eyes are actually seeing a faint glow until the brilliant colors are dancing above your head and lighting up the landscape. There is nothing like the silence of 3am on a frozen river, broken by the panting and foot-falls of a team of huskies pulling their sled and weary musher to the warmth and rest that your checkpoint promises. You are at the top of the world bearing witness to the ultimate expression of a human/canine relationship that spans tens of thousands of years. The teams that you meet are truly reliant on each of its members, functioning so effectively that they make it a thousand miles across frozen wilderness.
To get to this level of synergy, the musher must have all the traits we hope to instill in the students who graduate at Watershed: they must be curious learners, caring, committed global citizens, creative problem solvers, and most of all, have adventurous spirits. Their dog teams are not merely mindless pulling-machines, but have complex personalities, skills, and emotions of their own, which must be managed and led by someone who has emotional intelligence, courage, creativity, and strong communication skills that earn trust from the team. I’ve watched the mushers who lack these traits leave the trail, having bitten off more than they could chew, but I’ve also watched mushers who are so committed to their teams that they end their race, short of the finish line, for the wellbeing of their team.
How marvelous to be a part of a deeply personal journey of transformation for these people as they persevere through challenge after challenge toward a collective goal. It’s a lot like getting to watch our students through the years, as they mature and grow into the kind of people ready to take on challenges outside themselves, in the greater scheme of the world. I love volunteering for the Iditarod, and I love teaching my students.
