Our residence life staff headed out in a Toyota Highlander and a Dodge pickup truck on route to Johnson Lake. This is one of those moments that I knew that I have been preparing for this experience for a while, even if I didn't know that I was being prepared for this. We were bringing two canoes to take out on the lake and they had to be strapped down to the top of the vehicles. 'No problem, I have been doing this all summer' I thought to myself as I balanced a canoe atop my shoulders and proceeded to tie it down to the roof using truckers' hitches and other knots I had stored in my mental toolbox.
We filled the evening with telling our 'stories' to one another and filled our stomachs with pudgy pie pizzas and Reese's s'mores. As I sat listening to the stories of the other RS's (Resident Supervisors) I couldn't help but notice how much they all had in common with my own story. The details were all different, but the struggles and the successes shared a common thread. Sean, the director of student life, broke his foot in a hockey accident on the same date that I got in my bike accident. In sharing these stories we are beginning to learn that we are not alone in a place as vast and as wild as Alaska. Three words are all that sometimes need to be spoken to instill trust in others:
I've. been. there.
These words are the beginning of a trust bond not easily broken. We even shared in our goals and aspirations: to learn to play guitar. I came off of the summer of being a wilderness adventure guide on a team where no one played the guitar; it is not an essential skill, but it sure beats trying to sing a cappella. Before even arriving to Alaska I knew that in these next nine months that I am going to learn to play this cliche instrument. Fat fingers aren't going to stop me. Neither shall busyness. Nor the gates of hell shall not stand against Peter and I (haha). I'll take it one step at a time...and there are a lot of steps needed for me to be building a 'Stairway to Heaven' as Led Zeppelin would play. Each expecting that the other RS would know how to play we made a pact that we will all learn. I snagged a guitar that ACC (Alaska Christian College) owns and have been giving it daily attention. Hooray for building callouses on my fingers and character in my heart.
Playing guitar is only one small goal that we share, but for our team to really come together we are going to have to overcome some mountainous challenges this year. We role played some scenarios of confrontations with students about some of the issues we might have to address this year and the hills of cultural differences, personal 'baggage', language and communication will have to be climbed.
The way up to the peak looks long, but I know time is short.
Sean called me over to the shore of the lake saying, "Ryan, come look...moose!" I came running and boarded the canoe and took off with another RS paddling to go in for a closer look. We kept our distance but observed a mother moose and her calf wading in the water. Although it was my first sighting of the awe inspiring creatures I was promised that it would not be my last. In fact, what I am told is that soon enough it will be a common sight.
God has a way of taking the seemingly random and making it all work together. Whether it is working with hispanic youth in LA or taking suburban kids to the north woods of Wisconsin I trust that God is using my skills (i.e. knot tying) and my experiences (i.e. working with youth whose first language isn't english) together in a way I can hardly imagine. God has brought a group of RS's together from across the country whose past's relate so that we can accomplish His future purposes. Soon enough, like seeing moose, we will be old friends who can lean upon one another when we need support.
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