The Compass Points West

After a lot of soul searching and experimenting with different things over the past year, I have finally made a huge decision. I'm heading West to pursue a job in wilderness field instruction.

Before I started Outward Bound, a friend told me about this program called Second Nature Wilderness Therapy Program. It uses the wilderness to help treat and heal people with substance abuse or disciplinary problems. The program works mostly with 18-23 year-olds, but also has adolescent groups ranging in age from 14-18. Second Nature has 4 locations in the United States. The one I have applied for is in Saint George, Utah. They also have programs in Northern Utah, Oregon and Georgia. From the very first time I heard about the program and looked over their website, I thought it was something that would be really cool to do.

About two months ago, I finally decided to apply for the position of Field Instructor. I was eagerly awaiting a response from them after I had my telephone interview. On Friday I got a call from the recruiter, who let me know they would love to have me and invited me to their May training. At first I was thinking I would fly out there for the training and then decide to drive out there at a later date to start work. But, I decided it would probably make more sense to just drive out there in the first place.

The scariest part about this big move is that the job isn't guaranteed yet. The training is merely a try out to actually become a field instructor. So I'm taking a huge leap of faith by driving out there. I also will have no place to live when I finish the training, so I will probably be hopping from camp site to camp site until I can get some kind of housing worked out. If things don't work out or for some reason I get out there and change my mind, then I will have driven cross country, which is something I have always wanted to do.

I'm planning to embark on my journey bright and early on May 16th. In addition to visiting some friends along the way, I'm also going to try to plan a visit to a few national parks before I land in Saint George on May 21st. Whatever places I fail to visit on my initial drive out there, I will have plenty of time to explore on my days off. The way the schedule works, I would be working in the field 8 days in row and then I would get 6 in a row off and the schedule continues that way year round.

I'm really excited and a little bit scared at the same time. Please feel free to check out Second Nature's website if you want to read more about the program and my potential job.