here we go..

Wow, who knew that all you needed to do was to go to a school across the country and then you can finally rake in the care packages! I really do appreciate the care packages that are being sent, but I also understand the price of send packages. So please, if you have to choose between a package or a letter, I would prefer to receive letters!

My classes are finally moving along, I won't say that I'm finally in the swing of things because my classes change on a weekly basis and that is the hardest to keep up with. I am very appreciative for being accepted into the Outdoor Skills and Leadership program, however, I still have my doubts and anxieties about it. I want to challenge myself while I am out here, but there are times when I am caught thinking that I am well over my head. I'm currently enrolled in an 243 Introduction to Outdoor Leadership class which I am very excited about, however, I also learned that the 244 Outdoor Leadership class will involve may hikes of local mountain in Alaska, which is still very exciting, but these hikes involve hiking to the top and skiing down. Now, this is where the truth comes out, I am from Maine and I do not know how to ski. I also have to begin creating a training plan which is essentially a work-out plan that I will create and adjust to accordingly as well as follow for the next several months.

So it is just small issues like those that overwhelm me. While in Maine I felt comfortable doing the same hikes over and over again, I thought I was in shape for the level of endurance needed for the outdoor activities I was participating in. Now I just feel completely out of my league. Hopefully this will change as the semester progresses.

I've sent out letters today, I hope that they find your way to you. Again, I really do appreciate the packages. And as my Dad requested, I've also posted a photo of all of the certificates I have earned thus far!

 Certificates

Care Package from Anah

from the depths of the mendenhall..

I have survived and I come crawling from the depths of the Mendenhall to deliver a message..I am officially a Swiftwater Rescue Technician! I'm not entirely sure what that means, other than now I know multiple ways of rescuing an individual from the river. However, after taking this class, I'm not entirely sure I'll be spending too much time around any fast moving water. I understand that it is important to know these skills and techniques in order to protect yourself and to protect others, but this class is also a really great way of scaring people from even attempting to go near water!

I've started receiving a few letters from back home, and they are all greatly appreciated and I will be replying back to you by tomorrow at the latest! You don't understand how good it feels to hold something from back home, or to be reminded of the east coast. Did you know that no one knows about Hannford's over here?! Well anyways, please continue to write to me and I will continue to write back as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from all of you either via letter, text, or simply commenting on this post.

Here is my address again in case you forgot it!
Samantha Hall
4300 University Drive
Juneau, AK 99801

Care Package from Aunt Heidi!

Another certificate!

my apologies!

I apologize everyone for not posting. Once school started I became overwhelmed with classes! I understand that many of you have just figured out how to find my blog and I encourage you to check it as often as possible, as long as I continue to post daily.

I have spent the last few days in the Mendenhall River for my Swift Water Rescue class so I can become a Swift Water Rescue Technician! Which pretty much allows me to save your life in the water..or rather it teaches me to have a fighting chance so I won't die in a river. Either way, you can only imagine how much work it can be, especially because the Mendenhall River flows from the Mendenhall Glacier so the water is roughly 34 degrees. I have never been so cold in my life! Both dry suits I wore had leaks in them, so both ended up becoming containers for glacier water, which you can imagine is pretty miserable. But even though I come home at night feeling as if I just got done with a rugby match (minus the bruises and whip lash) and even though I'm freezing my ass off all day long..it is completely worth it.

More to come later..when I'm less tired!!

class list this semester

what a day..

Juneau weather, yet another gorgeous day! I got so many errands done today, sent a package to France, picked up some stamps so I am ready to write back to people as soon as I receive some letters! But more importantly, I jumped into the frigid water of Auke Lake. It was invigorating! I hope to jump back in soon. My first class went well, the professor is out at a conference so we had a TA teach the class, all we did was watch a movie on athletics in the early 1900's but overall I'm looking forward to what this class has to offer. I haven't received any more French vocab yet but I'm sure there will be more to come!

mendenhall ice cave..

Today is the first day of school and I don't have class until 3pm!! Looks like I'll take care of some errands..here are some other photos that Anna Gutschi (another exchange student from Austria) took while at the ice caves. Enjoy!

once in a lifetime..

Today a few friends and I hiked the West Glacier trail and climbed inside of the ice caves. It was honestly a once in a lifetime experience. It's like walking into an enormous freezer. And all the way in the back of the cave there is a hole in the ceiling looking up into the blue sky. The only way to get there is to walk through a waterfall of glacier melt, ankle deep in a swift moving river. But once you're directly underneath the hole the sun shines down on you. Anna took photos of the hole in the glacier, I'll be sure to post those later. Other than the extraordinary blue ice within the glacier we were fortunate enough to have gorgeous weather. It is very seldom that Juneau has good weather but so far I have been very lucky. Tomorrow I start school and I am not prepared what-so-ever. I have no notebooks, no paper, nothing for school. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up early, make breakfast, go for a jog, buy a notebook, grab some coffee and speak to my professors about schedule conflicts, but the only thing that is certain is my plan to jump into Auke Lake. Wish me luck!

Tonight I skyped with Doug, it was so good to talk to him, no matter what it seems like he always has the right thing to say. He's now teaching me French so that I won't look like a typical American tourist when I visit him in Le Mans. Here's my vocab this week:
Bonjour, je m'appelle Sam.
Comment ça va?
Bien et toi?
Je voudrais une bière s'il vous plait.

ps. My roommates are wonderful and I couldn't be more pleased with them!

first time for everything

Unfortunately, I haven't seen a bear in a while. Although that might be good because tomorrow I set off to hike the West Glacier Trail up to the ice caves at the Mendenhall Glacier, so wish me luck!

But today..I had my first Alaskan..and then I had a few more. ;)

 Squires Rest with Anna Gutschi

cheers

So far..the Alaskan experience has been everything I could have imagined and more. It is hard to stay connected back home though. I've spent the last 9 days in a rigorous Wilderness First Responder course which requires 80 hours of training. Therefore, in my free time I am checking in with my family, studying, trying to make connections/friends with my roommates and my fellow exchange comrades, and trying not to get too lost. Postcards are especially appreciated, I received my first one today and I intend to reply promptly! I have met loads of great people, and have unfortunately picked up strange terms such as, "I need to use the loo" or "let me know when you wanna head down to the pub". I feel as though I am constantly looking back to home, constantly on Facebook trying to determine when my friends back home arrived at school, and constantly updated with APO emails and reminders of when the first BAM practice will be. I do miss home. I miss being surrounded by my brothers and advocating for what is best for our group and our community; I miss showing up 5 minutes late to a BAM practice and no longer receiving a glare because my tardiness is expected; I miss the Thai food and Bruce's; I miss receiving Dove Dark Chocolate quotes and eating Sour Patch Watermelons on a monthly basis; I miss having someone read what I write before I submit it; and I miss watching twisted dark dramas that make absolutely no sense by the end. Although I miss all of these things, and although they can never be replaced, I know Alaska has more to offer me and I simply cannot wait to seek a great perhaps.

day seven

Seven bears sighted in seven days.

Man, Alaska is quite the experience. Other than 9 hour days filled with wilderness first responder training, I feel as if I have been running around non-stop since I arrived in Juneau. But it is absolutely gorgeous here. I can't quite capture the image of mountains that rise up out of the water. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before. I'd love to have photos printed and mail them home to friends and family. Unfortunately, I haven't received any letters or packages from anyone! I hope this changes soon, it's hard to keep up with life back in Maine when your only resource to find out information is via Facebook. Please everyone, feel free to text/call/write me, I would love to hear from you!

I'll try to post more frequently!!

Auke Bay

day two

Well day two started out a little rough. I decided I needed to go to Walmart after realizing that I didn't have any toothpaste or shampoo and conditioner. So I embark on this journey to Walmart with an exchange student from Austria. We get to Walmart and I kept telling myself not to buy too much, only the essentials because I need to be able to carry everything back. Well, let me tell you this, I went overload! I could barely carry my newly bought items back and Walmart is cheap as hell, so, of course their bags are cheap as hell! After the fourth bag broke on me on my mile, uphill hike back to my apartment through construction, I wanted to break down and cry. Let me just say that, this is quite a pathetic reason to cry and I won't get too into it but there were other circumstances that had occurred and this was icing on the cake. Well what did I do? I couldn't carry the bags back, they were too heavy and my items kept ripping the bag and crashing to the ground. So, I left my bags with a construction worker on the side of one of Juneau's main roads and walked to my apartment in order to grab a duffle bag so that I could carry all my belongings back. And then I cried. Again, pathetic I realize, but I believe it was necessary. After that I began knitting a scarf waiting for my roommate to return home from work and then we went out to SE Waffle Co., where we had dinner and were finally able to connect!

Let's hope that day three starts out how day two ended!

home

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I have arrived at my new home for the next 10 months! I have set my room up, I met one of my roommates, I grabbed coffee from a local coffee shop, I have toured my campus, and I have gotten one of those student ID's (crappy photo and all!). I am not feeling homesick (yet!), let's hope it stays that way! There are still many items I need to pick up at the store before I can really call this place home, but I encourage all of you to write to me in order to help with the transition. I'd also like to mention that I would appreciate snail mail over e-mails. I will continue to post photos so that you can continue to follow me on my new adventure!

I look forward to hearing from you!
Sam


Snail Mail:
Samantha Hall
4300 University Dr.
Juneau, AK 99801

E-mail:
samantha_grace11@yahoo.com

Facebook:
Samantha Grace

so many new things..all at once.

my first e-mail!

too bad it's simply notifying me of my own password change..

my acceptance!

Samantha ,  you are in.  F13.

Happy thanksgiving !

Forest

:D

my half acceptance..

Hi Samantha.  

Thanks for putting in your application, it looks excellent.  Im hoping to serve your needs and you are certainly qualified to participate in our program;  unfortunately I dont see an immediate solution if you are indeed interested in earning our certificate and attending in the spring and then the fall.  

Our leadership cohort is tight knit this year and including an additional member on our spring capstone seems unlikely- in addition a fair amount of the leadership curriculum, including the decision on what our capstone expedition will be, occurs (and has now occurred) in the fall.  There may be an alternative, one as of yet undetermined, but as I said in past correspondence the program does run fall to spring.  We're a small program at a small school.  Both Kevin Krein and myself are teaching overloads in F12/S13 to meet demand for our existing students.  

Id love to work with you in S13 and F13;  I cannot commit to a certificate completion plan at this time as the staffing and schedule may not allow it.  Again, there may be alternative but we're not seeing one on our end, at least right now.  

I do wonder if perhaps you might delay your attendance here until next fall.  Happy to talk to you on the phone about this.  Excited to see you in Spring 2013.

Forest

Forest Wagner
Assistant Professor and Program Director, Outdoor Studies
University of Alaska Southeast
(907)796-6361

here goes nothing..

first off,
I apologize for not writing sooner, it has certainly been a long haul getting all of this information and paperwork together and I still have so much farther to go. Now I'm at this stand still, a dilemma, if you will. After accepting my placement at the University of Alaska Southeast for the spring 2013 semester, I now may have to change my plans.

first plan:

go to UAS for spring 2013 semester
get away from Farmington
meet new people
try new things
come home

second plan:

heard there was an Outdoor Studies program which sounds really great
I can get a certificate out of it if I go for two semesters
go to UAS for spring and fall 2013 semester
get certificate
come home

third plan:

apply for Outdoor Studies certificate program
find out that I got half accepted
would prefer if I delay my departure or attend for three semesters
come home summer 2014

problem #1: if I attend UAS for three semesters, then I miss UMF graduation.
problem #2: I also miss my senior seminar class and won't receive the 8 more credits of rehab elective courses that I need to graduate.
problem #3: because I missed those vital classes in the graduation process I won't graduate on time.
problem #4: I would have to go to school at UMF for another semester (if everything works out) and graduate in the winter of 2014.
problem #5: I would essentially be transferring and would be giving up seeing my friends and her for a very long time.
problem #6: I planned on not getting involved for fear of making my decisions more complicated, it seems that I have recently made it more difficult to make these decisions.



What do I do now?

i accept...