“Resilience means looking at the
bigger picture and not dwelling upon what’s right in front of you. Continuing
even though what’s in front of you might be taking up most of the picture.”
– Hannah
The
Final Week of Teen Trail Crew has jumped
out from its dark corner in surprise, and makes its presence unavoidably clear.
A band of staff now battered, bruised
and rough around the edges, we round the corner and enter into the last
remaining stretch of the 2015 Berkshires Trails season.
“Resilience has to do with patience,
endurance, ability to learn from the past and to use it to make the present and
future better.” – Hugh
Once we moved past the excitement
of new in the beginning, past the celebration of ascent to the peak in the
middle, but before we encounter the bittersweet of the end, we have found
ourselves capable and willing to take on anything thrown at us, day after day;
resilient.
“Resilience is one
of the most important things you can have. You [can be] so sick and tired…but
you have to come back the next week ready to lead with a smile on your face. It
sets the crew off in the right direction.” – Jesse
Workings as a Crew Leader for the
Teen Trail Program during past seasons were not without their challenges:
“[As a crew leader], there was a participant on my crew that was really
rude to me and made my week a living nightmare. I was so tired, frustrated and
upset at the end of each day, but then it would start all over again each
morning. That was the longest week I’ve ever been through; it just took all I
had to get to Friday” –Molly
“[As a volunteer participant on a Leadership crew], we had built a series
of stone steps up Jug End [on the Appalachian Trail]. The next year when I
returned as a crew leader, [our project was to] rip out those steps in order to
build a better rock staircase. It was really hard to get on board with that: to
have a project that you had put so much work into get ripped out. But you just
have to push through that and help build a better staircase.” -Jesse
The 2015 Trail season was not
spared of difficulties either:
“A few weeks, ago we were in resilience mode. Having been [leading crews]
for a while, you tend to just get tired, your body and everything. We had to
just keep going. It’s the point where you’re faced with the option of either
doing your best even if that’s difficult - or taking the easy way out.” -
Hugh
“I got sick this summer. It was really frustrating to come back to work
and realize I couldn’t do everything as well as I could before.”- Molly
“…it down poured during lunch and participants started ringing out their
pita sandwiches like they were soaked towels…” – Maggie
We began developing a few
interesting ways of dealing with these challenges:
“…I speak in a lot
of different accents…” – Hugh
Though accents, games and donuts
aided the staff through difficult times, the true source of overcoming these
challenges was their own strength of character:
“Resilience might
have a lot to do with optimism, maybe sometimes blind optimism. There [is]
nothing saying that the next week [isn’t] going to be the same way, but I just
needed to stay optimistic about the summer.” - Molly
“I started [with
the Berkshires Trails Program], oh man, how many years ago? I started at 15 and
I broke my wrist during the second week of my 2 week crew. They asked me if I
wanted to go home and I looked at them like, ‘are you crazy? There’s only 3
days left!’ You’ve always got something to give, and there’s always more to do.
I think that’s what keeps bringing me back year after year. It’s a never-ending
battle.” – Jesse
“[Last week] we
had no time for breaks or games. We had to just put our heads down and work two
hours extra every day. At this point in the season we knew it had to be done
and we were ok with putting in the extra work to do what was expected of us.” – Hannah
After all this, why keep doing
this type of work? Why does our staff willingly show up to work each morning,
rain or shine, knowing bugs will be plenty and backbones will be sore?
“Being a crew leader is what keeps me coming back. Being a role model [for
the volunteer participants] like the ones that I had as a kid is really
awesome, and I really like that.” - Jesse
“I found it was the rewarding, energetic and fun weeks that drove me, as a
crew leader, to have resilience. Even if this rock wouldn't set on the first or
15th try, I knew that it was possible and we had options to make it work…” – Maggie
“There are two main things and I think they’re equally as important.
First, is that the work is satisfying and creative and it’s stimulating. It’s
satisfying for both my brain and body; I have to think things through while
it’s physically challenging. Second, are the people. There’s this amazing
community, and a different group of people each year. This job just draws
really amazing people to it. “ - Molly
“The people are incredible, and who else gets to put down everything in
their daily lives and go to the woods and throw some rock bars around.” – Hannah
The 2015 season has witnessed the
transformation of our staff from fresh faced to bold and dirty. They have dug in their heels when challenges
pushed them, and they’ve charged forward in spite of it all. The 2015
Berkshires Trails staff are about embark on their final week, and they are as
ready and capable as ever to lead with their unbreakable strength and smiles.
“…I found
resilience is the key to starting fresh every week and every day with new
energy.” – Maggie
 |
| Trails = Rock |
|
“Resilience is one
of the most important things you can have. You [can be] so sick and tired…but
you have to come back the next week ready to lead with a smile on your face. It
sets the crew off in the right direction.” – Jesse
“Resilience might
have a lot to do with optimism, maybe sometimes blind optimism. There [is]
nothing saying that the next week [isn’t] going to be the same way, but I just
needed to stay optimistic about the summer.” - Molly
