I would safely put money on the fact that Thacher is the only school in the country where “new faculty orientation” takes place at 10,000 feet. When I was interviewing for my job in the admission office I heard about the amazing outdoor program with its week-long camping trips that are so central to the student experience at Thacher, but didn’t quite grasp how those would fit into my own life.

With my high school days long behind me, it never occurred to me that being oriented to the school would literally involve orienteering – among other tasks where my skill set is seriously lacking! I mean, I love the outdoors and was excited to go on the trips with the kids, but with other adults – strangers? For several days? I was barely adjusted to leaving my home time zone (much less ready to immerse myself in the High Sierra) when I showed up, backpack pitifully stuffed, for the ride to Golden Trout (whatever that was).

Of course “ride” implies something very different from the hours long trek through the desert I was about to go on.  In my provincial mind, a camping trip could never mean traveling more than 2 hours – 3 tops. When I peeled myself out of the backseat of the van and staggered into the scorching heat more than 5 hours later, I felt like I had just landed on the moon. And when I looked up at those mountains, so close they seemed fake, I knew I was far, far from home. Yet somehow, as my new colleagues and I exchanged tired, curious looks, I knew I might just be exactly where I needed to be.