It’s been too long since I’ve last written my thoughts here. So much has happened since my last entry. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be to say its been an “avalanche” of positivity and change. It all started when I packed my life into a 90L duffel, grabbed my pack and my guitar and headed out for the north for my cousin’s wedding. I knew right then and there that I had finally taken the first steps of an exciting adventure. The trip up north through NJ, RI and MA was everything that I could have asked for. I got to see family from all over the world colliding in the humble houses of my New England family. Aunts and Uncles that took care of my brother and I during our stay in France, cousins all the way from Oregon that I only got to see on facetime and Christmas and Cambodian relatives that took us all over Cambodia helping my father find the home he grew up in all collided and it was a surreal moment. The power of a family that stops at nothing comes together is unlike anything else in this world. The house was so crowded that I simply set up camp in the backyard for the whole week. I slept at 10 and woke at 6 to the fresh New England air (yes, it is different) and the sound of wild turkeys (and sprinklers) - it was perfect. The best part of the wedding, hands down, had to be when my cousin and her husband walked out onto the stage to begin their first dance and, instead of having “Ho Hey” played by the DJ, all of my cousins and I ran onto the stage guitar, ukulele and pill bottle filled with golf tees a-blazin’ and sang them the whole song. She was in tears by the first chorus. I don’t mean to be overly sentimental but I think I almost cried playing that guitar haha. After a few delicious Samuel Adams later, a whole lot of dancing and quite a bit of street cred with the cute Boston College white girls, the night drifted away into the misty air. And just like that woke up the next morning at 5am, broke down my tent, packed my car, hugged my family tightly and headed straight for Front Royal, VA.

Just like that I found myself in a small town swallowed by the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounded by the new faces of whom would become some of the best people I’ve ever met (don’t let that get to your heads guys). Those who’ve followed this blog from day one know exactly how hard I’ve been working to get to SMSC and that first night just standing in the middle of my empty dorm I most definitely cried like a little girl. It’s one thing to get an email saying you’ve been accepted to a program but it’s an entirely different thing waking up in the morning, looking across a beautiful campus and seeing the mountains. It’s only been 3 short weeks but I have already been overwhelmed with huge amounts of kindness, learning and adventure. Right off the bat I made a good friend and fellow adventurer named Tyler Robic and hit the AT the morning of our first class. Things pretty much took off after that. There is no short of being in the great outdoors here. The massive campus is gated but so large that it contains its own forest and it’s own pesky population of white-tailed deer. Our day-to-day are a perfect balance of in-class theory/policy and fieldwork and data collection outside in the SMSC campus or on surrounding farms and research centers. There are no words to describe how good it feels to get my hands back in the earth and my mind back in the classroom. For so long I have been yearning to be productive - to have a direction and goal to work towards. The limbo of unemployment and the cutting knife of rejection have made me a humble and grateful man. The people here are good people to say the least. The staff are the kindest, most down to earth professors I’ve ever met. I forget sometimes that I am surrounded my PhD’s and leaders in conservation - they are all so fun and real to talk to. My classmates are from all over the place (OR, CA, MI/NY, VA) and are quite an eclectic mix of people. There is no end, I mean NO END, to the bonding, laughs and adventures we share. I have to admit that even though it’s just week 3 I already kind of miss them all…My knowledge base of ecology and conservation biology is slowly increasing and I am starting to work out parts of my brain that I forgot that I had. I am also making sure to write down all of the street cred that I get from volunteering/ working with the researchers here and I am nursing a beef jerky addiction. Needless to say, there is so much to experience here and this blog will be seeing much more of it before the end of these 4 months.

Finally, I had the opportunity to attempt to hike the Roaring Plains circuit in Davis, WV this past weekend. When they say that West Virginia is the wild and the wonderful they are not kidding. It’s like going back in time every time I suit up and head out there. John Denver was right, life is old there and things take on the air of a simpler yesterday. To put it lightly, the hike was brutal. It opened up with a small field of wild flowers but quickly led to a misty, pine-filled climb along the ridgeline of the mountain. For several hours we climbed upwards across slippery rocks and fairly deep streams - the whole time envisioning the breathtaking plains sprawling in the wind. We eventually reached a fire road that would, in 1 mile, finally put us at the Roaring Plains trail. It was along this calm respite that we realized that we were running low on time and daylight. If my buddy Zach was to get back at home by 2000 we would need to turn around by 1630 latest. Needless to say we began a frantic trail run into the woods. At about 1600 we stopped for lunch and the turn-around. We never made it to the plains but we were 4000ft. up, surrounded my pines and could kind of see the peaks of the Allegheny in the distance - we were satisfied. These were some of my favorite people and I appreciated just being able to get out here. They met up with me 830 that morning outside of Front Royal’s only Target. They drove an hour to get there and the hugs and back slaps were something I really needed. These were guys that, only half a year ago, were complete strangers working with me at REI. Over a couple of hikes and many many fun days at work, they became my good friends. And here we were, Sean holding down the fort at REI, Zach working hard at Enterprise and me going back to school to save the world one tree at a time. It’s cliche but it certainly wasn’t the destination this time but rather the journey and who I made it with. We pretty much ran the rest of the way back home, piled into Zach’s car shirtless, ran over my glasses and blasted Led Zepplin all the way home - it was just as I missed. We will certainly attempt Roaring Plains again in the future, our campaign to press westward won’t stop for anything.

All in all that’s everything that’s been happening lately, in a nutshell and in only 10 photos. Life is strange, that much I know. Sometimes you are drowning in a endless sea of lost hope, and sometimes you are snowboarding down an avalanche of positivity and change. Everyday is an adventure that has just begun and you just need to get yourself out of bed, strap up your boots and make life TAP. 

Here’s to never giving up and trekking on.

Chris

 

   Nearly a week ago I had the chance to hike Old Rag with some co-workers (quickly turning into friends) and my bud Paul. It was, to say the least, extremely fulfilling for me. As embarrassing as  it may be, it was only the second serious hike I’ve every done. Not coming from a very outdoorsy family, I have been trying to catch up! Even more embarrassing is the sheer amount of people that hike Old Rag. Like I said, playing catch up. We decided to hike the 7.4 mile trail counterclockwise which meant climbing the famous rock scramble rather than descending it. This proved to be much more than I anticipated and, between my ridiculously heavy 40L multi-day pack and my ridiculous fear of heights, I did borderline terrible. There were times where I had to hand my pack up to Zach or Sean and then (poorly) hoist myself up the slippery boulders. The bulk of the weight in my pack was my overstock of food and my heavy DSLR. Both of which I was convinced I needed. But through the sweat and cramps there was laughter, good conversation and a peaceful calm I have never felt before. There is a clarity awarded by hiking a good hike. As we trekked the miles and miles I began to think about where I was. Who I was with and where I was going. Not just on the trail but in this day to day life I live. Since joining REI I have met some of the most amazing people I have ever met, and some of the most humble adventurers I will ever meet. I have learned the value of living a simple, honest and clean life. I learned to work hard and to be strong as an individual and as a team. Probably most of all, I learned that life is just too short to say no (except for sky diving, give me some time for that). I’ve been spending my days off either on adventures or volunteering in the community. Balancing a day for “us” and a day for “them” is something I learned from my good friend, Sean Lacey. I have always been an avid volunteer but not until meeting him did I realize just how many ways there were to serve the community. This is a guy that volunteers on a farm,  then immediately goes to donate blood, refuels and showers at REI and then heads off to spend his evening volunteering at his church…This is Sean Lacey. The beautiful thing about all of this was that I wasn’t sitting in my room late at night thinking myself into oblivion. I was blinking, sweating and aching - I was hiking a mountain surrounded by nothing but trees, mountain air and my brothers. When we reached the summit of Old Rag I could never have anticipated the breath taking view. The wind ripped at us across the treeless summit taking away all sounds. Before us spread the most beautiful sea of clouds and trees I have ever seen. It was as if we were on the edge of the world looking at a view only the gods could have the right to see. The clouds floated endlessly into the distance, the trees stood proudly in their sheer numbers. I felt infinite. I understand that this isn’t in any way the best or most extreme mountain range but to me it was an accomplishment and taste of something I am going to be doing the rest of my life. To say the least, my love for nature, the outdoors and the conservation of the only earth we have was refueled and rebuilt with a hard earned perspective…5 hours or so after entering the trail head we found ourselves sweaty, tired and satisfied enough to head home but first, we needed to see the ponies. I cannot wait for the many adventures to come with my beloved new friends.

Trek On,

Chris So

Went on an impromptu trip to NJ with my cousin/friend/BJJ partner Kanika (pictured above) over the weekend. Job searching and resume editing for weeks at a time has really started to take a toll on me. ‘The rejections are an experience and learning opportunity’, is what I’ve been telling myself.

Honestly, it was nice to get out of the area even for the 2 days that we went. We stayed in the East Brunswick area and ate at a dim sum restaurant nearby. The food and service was terribly lacking. What I found interesting was the strange abandoned lots in the area behind the restaurant. Surrounding a small cement platform was a army of little saplings and trees. The platform seemed so out of place it was almost haunting. A small glimpse into a technologically apocalyptic world, perhaps? I found a drainage area framed by two trees and thought to myself how much nicer the spot would be if a nearby parking lot didn’t send its overflow into it. Along the same vein I found a pathway of trees that lead directly to a fence and neighborhood. It reminded me of long stretching pathways of trees I saw in France. They led to castles, gardens, museums…

Wanderlust has bitten me so hard these past months. It’s not exactly that I can’t up and hit the world with just my bag and my camera, it’s that I just won’t feel right until I have a steady job. It’s in my being to have structure, work and productivity. I wouldn’t be able to travel and explore if I knew I wasn’t making a difference, a change. That’s what you get when you spend weeks dissecting AmeriCorps’ and PeaceCorps’ websites and fanatically reading as many personal blogs of volunteers as humanly possible…I have a few opportunities coming up that may get me shots at the EPA and the Smithsonian. My resume has been diced up and taped back together so many times yet it never feels like it’s enough. I need to spice up my cover letter as well…That’s what happens when a Pre-Pharm student decides last minute to follow his dreams into Environmental Conservation - a tough uphill battle, but one that I think will be so incredibly worth it.

Here’s to getting up, brushing off and moving forward.

Trek On,

Chris