T.E.A.M.: Together Everyone Achieves More

After learning about some of the park’s history, it was time to learn about some of the real-world challenges Yosemite National Park faces today. One of those is the interactions between bears and humans and how to keep both parties safe. We talked about the raspberry bushes in the campgrounds and how bears love to come to eat the berries but often end up getting human food as well while they are there, which is not safe for them or for the humans. In a negotiation-style discussion, our group took on the challenge of deciding what should happen with these raspberry bushes in the campgrounds while also addressing the needs and desires of many different groups of people involved. Students took on the role of someone involved in the issue and were challenged to come up with a solution that worked for everyone. After the discussion, we went to the campground and trimmed back raspberry bushes to help the National Park Service manage the issue of bears in campgrounds and hopefully encourage bears to seek food sources away from humans.

On Thursday, our group took on the infamous Mist Trail. While it was a hard hike and a physically challenging day, seeing students learn the differences between being part of a bigger group doing a hike together versus doing it on their own was a rewarding part of a hiking day. It takes much more patience and encouragement to do it together, but it can also be a lot more fun. I started the day not quite knowing what our finishing point would be, and because I didn’t know how my group would take to the physical challenge, I wanted to make sure it remained a fun challenge and didn’t turn into us getting in over our heads. When we got to the top of Vernal Falls, our first option of where to turn around, I asked my group what they wanted to do. They unanimously voted to keep going, so up we went, and I smiled inside knowing that all of the challenges we pushed ourselves through earlier in the week had prepared us for this one, and they all knew they had more in them. 

The last stretch was very difficult, but I saw my students looking out for each other like never before. No matter who they were or what high school they came from, they were all there together trying to finish the trail. I saw students take on backpacks for those who were having a harder time, sit with each other when someone needed a break, and cheer each other on. For the first time in my teaching career, my group made it all the way to the top of Nevada Falls. But it wasn’t me that pushed them to get there; it was all of them helping each other and believing that they were capable of doing it. On the way back down, a student shared with me that this was not only her first time in Yosemite, but also her first time hiking. What a special experience to have been someone’s first! 

On the last day, our challenge became saying goodbye (and hopefully staying in touch). As I said goodbye to my students as they boarded the bus, I thought about how 12 students that came from 12 different high schools and had 12 different life stories and backgrounds all ended up in the same group, taking on challenges together in Yosemite. It’s cool to think that no one else in the world but those of us in that group will ever share the same experiences that we shared together that week. I hope that when they go home, they remember everything that they are capable of. Whether it be making a new friend in an unfamiliar place, completing a stewardship project to help out the National Park Service, or climbing the Mist Trail, they are ready to take on whatever challenge comes next. 

People often come to Yosemite focusing only on physical challenges, and while the park has plenty of that to offer, the special thing about NatureBridge programs is that we get to experience challenges in countless different ways everyday. We learn that what might feel simple to us might be the greatest challenge someone else has ever faced, and vice versa, or that sometimes the challenge is just being new in a place—something we all face at some point in our lives. But most of all, we learn that challenges become just a little bit more doable when we face them together, and I hope when my students go home they invite others to join them in taking on the challenges we all face in our lives together.