Taking Experiential Education to the Next Level: Ala Archa Eco-Leadership Project

It's been over a year since I've written; I guess I must be having fun as a college student. The days certainly do fly by. There are always long lists of assignments to finish, events to attend, and people to stay in touch with. I have a habit of taking a full course load and getting involved with clubs on campus, so I tend to be rather busy. However, I do feel that I have managed to find somewhat of a balance these past two semesters.

Most weekends, I worked at the Anchorage Market and Festival

I spent this past summer in Alaska working for Kahiltna Birchworks, the world's largest producer of birch syrup (similar process to maple except that it takes 110 gallons of birch sap to make on gallon of syrup. The sugars and minerals are also different, so it doesn't taste anything like maple). It was a fabulous job, my bosses were kind and generous, and though I was working 50+ hours a week most of the time, I did get to explore Alaska a little bit.

RA bulletin boards...

I am back in school now and working as a Resident Advisor (I am responsible for building a community on my floor and enforcing policy in the dorms). The RA position is relatively time consuming, but I am compensated with room and board which is awesome; despite the bad rep, I also thoroughly enjoy being an RA and I am glad to be in school. The opportunities I am afforded as a student are remarkable and I am so grateful that I have the privilege of studying at the University of Vermont. 

On that note, I recently began an internship with one of the graduate students in the Rubenstein School for Natural Resources and the Environment. Over the next few months, we will be fundraising, planning and organizing for an outdoor leadership program with the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Kyrgyzstan. In August, we will lead a two week experiential education course for nine students from the AUCA at the Ala Archa National Park, just outside of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The course will combine best practices from a variety of outdoor education programs such as Kroka, NOLS, Crow's Path, and Outward Bound in an effort to operationalize ecology and conservation. The students will be challenged to adjust to the rigors of high elevation trekking and mountaineering, establish goals to implement ecology in their daily lives, and become effective leaders in Kyrgyzstan's sustainable development. 

The Eco-Leadership Project  will be in Ala Archa National Park

Needless to say, I am stoked. Being a part of a project that integrates my love of academics, experiential education and cultural exchange is truly a dream come true. Not only will I get to trek in gorgeous mountains and be immersed in a new culture, but I will also be a part of shaping the experience for the Kyrgyz students who attend. Leading breakout instruction sessions, teaching outdoors skills, and fostering students in their development as ecologically conscious citizens and leaders in the movement towards sustainable development in Kyrgyzstan, will allow me to take my passion for sustainability to the next level; I am not a participant on this expedition, but a leader. 

If you would like to read more about the program, or contribute to our fundraising campaign, please visit our GoFundMe site or watch this video about the project !

Hope y'all are doing well, whoever you might be that still read this blog, 

Peace, love and adventure,

Sonya 

I bought my brother a plane ticket to Alaska for his fifteenth birthday

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Talkeetna, the town where the retail shop for Kahiltna is located, is only sixty miles South of Denali National Park. The local flightseeing business offers free (you have to pay for fuel, but that's all) tours to people who work in town in the tourist industry, so I got to fly around the mountain in little plane.