CLASSROOM EARTH
us as a group was our decision to wake up at 3am to see the milky way with no light pollution in the sky. It was nothing but beautiful.
We had two more weeks of mapping to do to end field camp after we came back from the Tetons. It was during this time that I had to face my biggest fear. Out in the hills of Bear Butte Mountain in South Dakota, I came face to face with the
Upper Yellowstone Falls
largest rattlesnake ever seen during our whole field camp. I remembered the universal law of attraction in that moment; I had finally attracted what I feared the most. I started saying my last prayers as I thought of an escape route; moonwalk down the hill or develop wings in a split second and fly off (which was definitely not going to happen). I thought to myself; “if I am to die this way, at least let me die in my home, the real “Wakanda” land. At least they may be able to fix me with their “vibranium” after I got struck by the snake”. Thankfully, I got away safely but that left a scar on me that will probably last a lifetime. I was extremely relieved when we turned in our last map; I could not wait to get back home.
At the end of field camp I realized that even though I hated parts of it, I was happy about the person it had made me into. Being out in the field made me stronger physically, mentally, and academically. I became less fearful of bees and other critters out in the field and also developed a love for hiking and doing more outdoor activities. The moment I was most proud of was navigating and mapping a whole area at the end of field camp and actually fully understanding what I was doing. I scored a B on this map and extremely proud of myself. I was very appreciative of the lifelong friends I had made, the unique experiences I had gotten, and most of all the vast amount of knowledge I had acquired from my field camp professors and colleagues as well. Field camp gave me a deeper understanding of concepts I learned in class as I saw them physically out in the field. It also helped me in deciding which career paths in Geology I would like to pursue as I started to realize my interests, strengths, and weaknesses during the camp. I started to feel more like a Geologist and was ready to start my senior year at EIU with much more enthusiasm because of all the knowledge I had gained at field camp. To future field camp attendees, I would like to encourage you to make the most of your field camp experience. You will make the most beautiful memories during this time. It will, without a doubt, be challenging sometimes but always have in mind that you are going to get through this. There will be days you feel homesick or want to quit but you will always be better off as a person at the end compared to when you started field camp. It is totally okay if you feel incompetent out in the field at the start of camp, do not worry. You will make mistakes but you will learn from them. You definitely cannot expect perfection from geologists in the making; we all have our “faults”. (Did you catch that?). If I, an international student with no outdoor experience survived field camp, then you definitely can!
Now go rock your world!
Note: “Our front cover shows Shirley at the Upper Yellowstone Falls “
Networking: The Key to Survival in a Challenging Employment Market Christopher Dail, CPG-10596
Chris is a thirty-year veteran of the mining industry with exploration experience on several continents seeking a variety of commodity types and currently serves as the Exploration Manager for Midas Gold
Corp.in charge of Exploration activities on the Stibnite Gold Project in Central Idaho.
Networking, and not the kind involv- ing electronics, is a key part of being a professional geologist. Without it, when times are tough, you may find yourself a bottom feeder in the employ- ment (or underemployment) opportu- nity game. So, what does networking mean and entail. Merriam-Webster’s definition (accessed 10/1/2018, https://
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ networking) is: “…the exchange of infor-
20 TPG •
Jan.Feb.Mar 2019
mation or services among individuals, groups, or institution, specifically: the cultivation of productive relation- ships for employment or business…” As a student, one doesn’t have much to show in terms of “experience” for job advertisements. So, networking can be a means to make you stand out on the employment line.
It might mean joining student chap- ters of professional organizations AND
participating in them: putting time, sweat and effort into advancing the goals of your chosen organizations. This could mean anything from serving as a student officer, to fund-raising for scholarships, to organizing and participating in field trips or making contributions to, or editing, the student chapter newslet- ter. One should also plan on attending professional industry trade organization meetings where folks already in the field
www.aipg.org
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