Being an introvert I’ve never done particularly well with stepping out of my comfort zone. I usually end up backing out at the last second or refuse to give an experience the chance it deserves. Last summer I took a giant step out of my small comfort zone and signed up for the Northwest Youth Corps, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in my 20 years on this planet.
For those who don’t know, the Northwest Youth Corps is a program based in Eugene, Or. that provides opportunities for young adults to go out into the wild and basically play in the woods and the dirt, (and get paid for it). To use their words, “our core purpose is to provide opportunities for youth and young adults to learn, grow, and experience success.” Check out their website here.
I signed up for the East 2 program which was five weeks long and took place in Idaho. My crew went to three different places during our session. Our first job was re-doing a trail that another crew had made a few sessions before and had not the best job. We hiked in 3 miles and camped for one week near the Idaho Wyoming border (or so I was told that’s where it was, my crew leader liked to keep us guessing as to where we were). Our next project was a two week stay in the Frank Church Wilderness, River of No Return that is located in the middle of Idaho, an absolutely beautiful place. My crew, known as the Blue Crew, hiked 18 miles in one day and spent the 2 weeks clearing out a landslide. This is the place that I released my inner hard core mountain woman, and I’m quite fond of her so she’s not going anywhere. Since Frank Church is a designated wilderness area there are no power tools allowed, so we had to take all of the giant logs and stumps out by hand… it took a long time, and lots and lots of pushing.
Blue Crew’s final project was clearing out a sick forrest and slash piling logs and branches for the forrest service to burn during the winter. (I was never told where this part of our journey was, somewhere in Idaho… I think).
These five weeks influenced my life tremendously. I learned a lot about myself in regards to what I can and cannot do. It also proved to me that really amazing things can and will happen when you take the opportunity to step out of that realm of comfort that you are nested in. Not only did I do amazing things that I never thought I would do, I met some of the most fantastic people who are now some of my best friends.
I highly encourage anyone who feels like they need to get out of their comfort zone, are bored with their current situation, or need a job to sign up for NYC. There are currently some spots open for the East 2 program in Idaho (the one that I did). It’s a tiny bit pricy to sign up but you get all of that money back at the end of session with your paycheck.
Even if this doesn’t seem like something you would want to do, I say try anyway and see what happens, you might surprise yourself.
I had never gone backpacking before and didn’t ever plan on it, but it turns out that I love backpacking! It’s so much fun! It’s also extremely liberating to not be bound by societal norms such as showering every day (I showered three times total during my five week session). You will also meet amazing people from all walks of life. NYC is difficult but extremely satisfying, and who doesn’t want to get paid to live out in the woods for five weeks?
Embrace your inner hard core, badass, mountain person and step out of your comfort zone and into the woods. You can sign up for the program here. 😀
P.S. if you do sign up and are put into Blue Crew 1st: congrats you’ve made it into the best crew there is, and 2nd: let me know because it’s possible that you had the same leader as I did and that’s awesome.
P.P.S Also, if you don’t get into East 2 there are Fall sessions as well which are just as fun.
Autumn Micketti 