Chiara's NOLS backpacking trip
Donation protected
Hi! My name is Chiara and I would deeply appreciate your help. I was first inspired to look into a NOLS course after my first backpacking experience last year in Yosemite. NOLS is the National Outdoor Leadership School. They run hundreds of different types of trips such as backpacking, mountaineering, and sea kayaking all across the globe. NOLS focuses on creating future leaders by teaching their students technical outdoor skills, leadership, and environmental ethics. We will learn how to be self-sufficient while also discovering how to coexist and work together with a small team of people. NOLS believes that living in the wilderness, away from the distractions of society, fosters self-reliance, judgement, respect, and a sense of responsibility for our actions.
I’m applying for a month long backpacking trip in Washington Pataysen Wilderness for this summer. While these courses are amazing experiences, they’re also quite expensive. Although I am applying for scholarships and am currently working and saving, it is still a really big financial strain on my family. External costs such as airfare, transportation to and from the base, motels and equipment add to the overall cost in addition to the course fee itself.
This year I made the resolution to do more things that challenge me. Applying for NOLS is my first leap. I’m intimidated by the substantial financial investment and of being away from home, let alone civilization, for an entire month. I'm afraid of not knowing a single person on my trip and of traveling alone. While I've dreamed of doing something like this, I've never attempted anything of the sort in my entire life. But while I'm terrified, these things that scare me also exhilarate me. I want to gain a new perspective of the depth of the world and of myself beyond the classroom. I want to transcend the limits of what I currently think I'm capable of. I believe that the skills I gain through this course will help me not only build a basis for a future of backpacking, but help me excel in school, sports and as a student leader. I hope to gain a new level of respect for the world I live in, create connections with amazing people, and discover a strength within myself that I have not yet seen.
I believe that this course will give me a deeper appreciation for our ecosystems. I will use my experience to motivate my work to conserve our earth. I hope to have a deeper understanding of my environmental impact on our world. I also wish to bring back the love and knowledge I gain through this experience to my own school’s own outdoor program, which gives students the opportunities to get outside and do everything from learning to surf to gaining their scuba certification. I'd like to give others the ability to access similar experiences as the one I hope to have.
Every little bit helps. I deeply appreciate it!
I’m applying for a month long backpacking trip in Washington Pataysen Wilderness for this summer. While these courses are amazing experiences, they’re also quite expensive. Although I am applying for scholarships and am currently working and saving, it is still a really big financial strain on my family. External costs such as airfare, transportation to and from the base, motels and equipment add to the overall cost in addition to the course fee itself.
This year I made the resolution to do more things that challenge me. Applying for NOLS is my first leap. I’m intimidated by the substantial financial investment and of being away from home, let alone civilization, for an entire month. I'm afraid of not knowing a single person on my trip and of traveling alone. While I've dreamed of doing something like this, I've never attempted anything of the sort in my entire life. But while I'm terrified, these things that scare me also exhilarate me. I want to gain a new perspective of the depth of the world and of myself beyond the classroom. I want to transcend the limits of what I currently think I'm capable of. I believe that the skills I gain through this course will help me not only build a basis for a future of backpacking, but help me excel in school, sports and as a student leader. I hope to gain a new level of respect for the world I live in, create connections with amazing people, and discover a strength within myself that I have not yet seen.
I believe that this course will give me a deeper appreciation for our ecosystems. I will use my experience to motivate my work to conserve our earth. I hope to have a deeper understanding of my environmental impact on our world. I also wish to bring back the love and knowledge I gain through this experience to my own school’s own outdoor program, which gives students the opportunities to get outside and do everything from learning to surf to gaining their scuba certification. I'd like to give others the ability to access similar experiences as the one I hope to have.
Every little bit helps. I deeply appreciate it!
Organizer
Chiara Arellano
Organizer
Larkspur, CA
