Prescott: "Arizona's Christmas City"

In 1989, Prescott, Arizona was dubbed by Governor Rose Mofford to be Arizona's Christmas City. This year marks 60 years of the annual tradition of donning the trees of Courthouse Square with incredible lights, making a spectacularly colorful show every night they are illuminated. This year's show is rumored to be nicknamed the "Super Bowl of Christmas Lights."

A lit up Courthouse Square from 2013!
Source: http://www.michael-wilson.com/Landscapes/Prescott/i-SJxWX22

Since "tis the season," here are some winter happenings going on in our festive town:

32nd Annual Christmas Parade

Saturday, December 6th, 1PM-3PM, around downtown Prescott. The theme this year is "150 Years of Christmas Memories."

60th Annual Courthouse Lighting Celebration

Saturday, December 6th, Courthouse Square, 4PM for musical groups singing, 6PM for lighting ceremony.

Christmas City Charity Ball

Saturday, December 13th, 7PM-11PM at the Prescott Gateway Mall. $25 for adults, $10 for teens. 

For adults, there will be food, live music from the Steve Annibale band, a dance competition, carolers, and a silent auction, as well as a catered event for teenagers, with a performance by the Cross Eyed Possum band. The six charities being supported are:

Prescott Meals on Wheels, United Animal Friends, Prescott Area Habitat, Prescott Area Shelter Services, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, and West Yavapai Guidance Clinic

Wildlights and Animal Sights

Every Friday and Saturday night of December, 6PM-9PM, at the Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary. A holiday lights display at the zoo! $3 for members of the zoo, $5 for nonmembers.

Home for the Holidays

This ongoing event, running through December 28th, is through the Yavapai Humane Society, and is reducing dog adoption fees to $30 and cat adoption fees to $25 to encourage the community to "give the gift of life to a deserving pet." They also are encouraging people who cannot adopt to donate items for their shelter! http://www.yavapaihumane.org/

Ice Skating at Tim's Toyota Center

Here is their schedule of open skating for the month of December: 

http://prescottvalleyeventcenter.com/images/stories/events/December_2014_Ice_Schedule.pdf

Photos with Santa at the Prescott Gateway Mall

Here is the schedule of photos with Santa for the month of December: 

http://nebula.wsimg.com/61d7ca2df8a50b64209c69d7059fa298?AccessKeyId=AF537A351E014213D68A&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

And finally, to ring in 2015 in true Wild, Wild West fashion....

The boot last year!
Source: http://www.bootdrop.net/#!venue/galleryPage

The 4th Annual New Year's Eve Boot Drop
Wednesday, December 31st, 10PM and midnight on historic Whiskey Row in Downtown Prescott.
A 6 foot tall illuminated cowboy boot will be lowered from the Palace Building's flagpole at both 10PM and midnight. Fireworks occur at midnight. There will be live music, a carnival with a ferris wheel, giveaways, and food!

--Steph Doss

50 Years of Wilderness

Recently I took a PC block course entitled Topics in ADV: 50 Years of Wilderness: Place, Process, and Protection. When the course began I wasn't entirely sure of what Wilderness or wilderness meant (and I'm still working on it). And I have to tell you, it's not a fluffy topic, Wilderness. It's political. It's philosophical. It's closer to home than most people realize. 

Atop Escudilla Mountain

So before I go on, I'm going to cue you in on the brief history of the Wilderness Act.
The act was signed into federal law on September 3rd, 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and written by Howard Zahniser of the Wilderness Society. It went through nearly 60 different drafts over a period of 8 years and was a direct response to the visible loss of our American Beauty. At the moment of its signing, 9.1 million acres of land became federally protected. Today there are 109.5 million acres of Wilderness from coast to coast in our country. It's uniquely American...and I'm not one to be patriotic, but I am proud of the thinkers who endowed our future with the federal designation of wild places. 

...but what is Wilderness?

by the Wilderness Act's definition:

"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

Escalante, Utah

Pretty poetic stuff, right? In more simple words, a place that might be considered for Wilderness designation must be free of human impact. The word "untrammeled" should receive particular poetic attention, I think. Something that is untrammeled is something free to act and express its truest form. The writer (Zahniser) wanted us to understand that Wilderness should be as free as we feel when we enter it. Because of this language in the act, agencies now question,  "Well, do we manage it for a changing climate...or do we leave it? Is Wilderness still free from man? Can it be?"  ...And that is where Wilderness gets political and philosophical. Do we manage Wilderness to protect it from human impact? Or do we let it do its thing? There's no right or wrong. I for one don't have the answers (yet), I'm still discovering where I fall on the spectrum of wilderness management.  

Instructor Doug Hulmes at 12,000 ft.

Aside from the politics which reign over Wilderness issues, our instructors wanted us to understand what sense of place we felt in these wild places, to understand why we felt it, and in the context of wilderness. "Where is the nearest wilderness to you? Why do you seek out wilderness? What do you connect to? Landscape? What about the landscape?" They wanted us to understand that wilderness is a people's thing. It's for us (and more than often created by us). It should be protected by us. It's our future. It's our personal piggy bank of natural splendor,  it's our wealth. 

 I encourage readers to explore their Wilderness areas. Realize the beauty in an untrammeled land! Ask yourself the questions our instructors asked us and participate in the designation of new Wilderness Areas! You can get involved with groups like the Arizona Wilderness Coalition and the Sierra Club!

Please, watch our final class project! 50 Years of Wilderness (a movie)

by Audria Dennen

All photos belong to Audria Dennen

Rock & Yoga

“Jumping from boulder to boulder and never falling... is easier than it sounds; you just can't fall when you get into the rhythm of the dance.” --Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums  

(Just want to give out a shoutout to good ol' knick-knack Kerouac, who has been quoted in what seems like almost all of my blog posts... He's just got the right words!)

View from the top of the
Thumb Butte Scramble,
Prescott, AZ. 

Rock climbing became a part of my life earlier this year, around May, and I've never taken to something so quickly and wholly. Something about my naivety around it, because as many know the world of rock climbing is incredibly comprehensive, allowed me to feel like a child in this new context, unleashed and excited and wanting to, simply put, just go up. 

My first day climbing was in an area called Jack's Canyon, a bit outside Flagstaff, Arizona. I knew virtually nothing going into it, not understanding this grading system of 5.8's being lesser than 5.11's, or the jargon of "bomber crimps" and hand jams. I was clueless, and I think it worked to my advantage. Truthfully, I felt like a cat, moving from one hold to the next with grace, but the bruises and scars on my body tell different stories about my first day finesse. Regardless, I fell in love with it. It felt natural, and real, and like my body was supposed to do it. Unlike other sports where there were rules and balls and essentially social constructs of how things were "supposed" to be done, this was more primal, more about each individual's body and how that body can get up this specific rock, and it made much more sense to me. It felt like it was exactly what I was meant to do. 

(As a side note, this BY NO MEANS makes me some kind of climbing prodigy. I fall, and bruise, and have less than 5 months of experience under my belt. I'm absolutely learning, for sure, but it still feels right for me to do.)






I spent the summer climbing here and there, but primarily anticipating what would be my Fall Block course at Prescott College: a four week introductory intensive on, as you may have guessed, rock climbing.... and yoga. 

Now, contrary to my magical eye-opening experience with rock climbing, prior to block, I had tried yoga approximately twice in my life and absolutely hated it. In high school, I was a mid and long distance track/cross country runner, and any flexibility I had once felt in my body had disappeared after that. When I tried yoga, all I felt was hurt and impatience, and little bit of anger towards my parents for not forcing me into ballet or gymnastics as a toddler. In my eyes, it was the perfect practice for someone who just was not me: calm, steady, and bendable. 

But, despite all that, I gained an utmost respect for yogis and their practice, and so when I saw that this was a class, I decided to bite the bullet and do it. Yoga is something that is even more expansive than the climbing world. It is an incredible and beautiful philosophical system, which some may argue to be a religion in itself, of which the poses (asanas), comprise only a very very small part of. 

Climbing with friends in Tuolumne Meadows,
Yosemite National Park, CA.

So from August 26th to September 19th, my classmates and I spent three days a week rock climbing in Prescott and the nearby areas, and two days a week in "The Chapel" classroom of Prescott College practicing hatha yoga, and learning about the history and philosophies of the whole realm of yoga. In all honesty, this is one of the best classes I have taken in all of college. 

Some of my gear, featuring a cameo
appearance of my kitten, Alaska.

Despite what many think, this class wasn't only about the tactical skills of climbing, including anchor building, belaying, and knot tying, or the physical posture requirements of the yoga asanas. In truth, my biggest takeaway from this course was about the mental aspect of both. Through readings such as Arno Ilgner's The Rock Warrior's Way, or a section of Bill Garrett's master's thesis on yoga, I learned so much about how the mind plays a role in not just my performance in these activities, but in life in general. I learned to slow down, breathe, appreciate the moment, and bring my awareness to the present, which has been helpful in an uncountable amount of occasions. I learned about being more present with my relationship with myself and others, and listening to an inner voice, more commonly known as a "gut feeling."

(I even started to like yoga...)

I just learned and even when I didn't know I was learning, I was. It was awesome, especially when we were learning in places like the Granite Dells, Thumb Butte, Granite Mountain, and Sullivan's Canyon. I gained so much from this class that has improved my climbing, not even so much in technique but really a lot in my self talk and breathing during a climb. 

In summary, if you're a Prescott College student, or will be, you really should take this course. In short, it will change your thinking and will make you a better person for yourself and the world you're in, and you'll pick up two pretty popular activities around here. 

Loosely put, some "yoga" overlooking Half Dome in Yosemite Valley,
Yosemite National Park, CA. 

To end the way I began, another on-point Kerouac quote, this one from On the Road:

"What difference does it make after all? --Anonymity in the world of men is better than fame in heaven, for what's heaven? What's earth? All in the mind."

--Steph Doss, all photos are mine 

What the River Taught Me

“The river looked at him with a thousand eyes--green, white, crystal, sky blue. How he loved this river, how it enchanted him, how grateful he was to it! In his heart he heard the newly awakened voice speak, and it said to him: “Love this river, stay by it, learn from it.” -Siddhartha

I sat by the river on the last morning before departing, and found that this river had carried me through other trips I’ve been on in subtle and not so subtle ways. Looking out over the edges of the water, the word resiliency flowed into my head. I continued to admire the waters that fed me in various ways. Resiliency is the ability to overcome challenges, and if able, transform them into opportunities. Many humans face such difficulties as adversity, personal crises, and even larger systemic issues. I sat and thanked the river for supporting me, understanding that not many people get the opportunity to learn about resiliency through paddling part of the Colorado river.

I had a feeling that I may not like canoeing, as some have told me that those who enjoy kayaking may not like canoeing and vice versa. I was surprised to find that I now have another outdoor activity that I like to do to add to my list! I had a fantastic experience learning how to canoe on this trip, and I think the stretch of the Colorado River we did was the perfect teacher for me. I loved being on the water and the canoe being the mode of travel.

A cohort member and I taught a lesson on role modeling and stereotypes. It was the first time I had taught with her, and I appreciated facilitating with someone new. We complimented each other’s teaching styles well. We had a discussion on how role modeling relates to being a leader, and since we are all teachers in some capacity, we are essentially all role models. What we do, say, and how we act will affect the students we serve. In order for us to best serve students, we must take a look into ourselves, and understand our identity. Our personal experiences make up the myriad of ways we teach. Our assumptions often guide our reality and perception, which can be challenging to be aware of while teaching in a classroom. After the discussion, we separated into skits, and we did mini-plays of both positive and negative situations about stereotypes and role modeling.

I felt fortunate to be part of this really amazing group of people and to learn from one another this past week. It was a joy to see how others teach and put together more ideas and activities in my mental teaching portfolio.

~JI

Theatre!

"How did you learn to be a woman?" "What does it mean to be a "good" girl?" These questions are framed from the understanding that the ways in which women have been socially conditioned to act in a patriarchal society are oppressive. I walked around the space pondering this question posed by the facilitator, exploring intellectually as well as with movement the ways in which I have been told what being a woman is and looks like. 

This summer I made my way into New York City to experience a theatre workshop known as Madalena, facilitated by Barbara Santos. The workshop was done through Theatre of the Oppressed New York City, which,

 creates theatre troupes with community members who face pressing social, economic, health, and human rights issues. The troupes create and perform plays based on real-life struggles, which engage diverse audiences in theatrical brainstorming - or Forum Theatre - to activate communities and creatively challenge systems of oppression. 

I walked in knowing no one, but understanding that we had all arrived here for a specific reason that had brought us together. Though that feeling doesn't readily elicit trust, it is a beginning point to be able to remind myself that we are here to explore these questions together. The focus was directed towards women in order to create a space where women can discuss and interact with the specific oppressions they face in different situations. 

This is meant to be a space where mutual trust can be upheld and re-valued; where women find ways to overcome feelings of guilt, shame, and competition; and where women can confront the silence that has historically hid fundamental topics. Therefore, Madalena groups seek to build up an environment of recognition, visibility and empowerment so that women can reflect about their own oppressions, exchange ideas and support each other in the struggle for new quests.

 Women's bodies and intellect have been historically hidden for centuries, yet they are the "marketing window for mass media," which represents only certain types of women- arguably unhealthy and unrealistic. This type of media representation in the United States is hurting young girls and women. 

Themes that continually came up throughout the workshop when we would engage in short improvisational sharings were, covering our mouth and faces with our hands,  shutting our legs tightly, the act of shaving our bodies, and lastly working out while also having to look pretty. These are pressures that these women experienced in their lives which came through during the theatre activities. What these themes tell me is that there are double standards, unrealistic pressure to look and act a certain way (for who?) on a daily basis. Also, with the theme of covering our mouths and faces, which can mean many things for different women, one that I personally identify with is not being able to speak up (especially in the presence of men) because we are told that our voices don't matter. This reflects incredibly visibly within politics as men are predominately deciding the rights of women. 

This exploration into what women's experiences are sheds light on how to engage in dialogue with women, as we all come with our own experiences, socially, culturally, personally and otherwise.  Using theatre is a powerful method to interact with and honor women's stories and feelings.  

We began this workshop with pinning up a canvas of the hand prints of all women who have done the workshop before us and  pinned this up in the room so that the women would be with us. We ended the workshop by adding our hand prints.

Barbara Santos

 "Madalena laboratory is an innovative theatrical and research experience that uses aesthetic elements, and it is directed to women only to create effective strategies that help overcome their oppressions and that promote gender equity. The beginning point is the female body, which was kept out of sight for centuries and is the marketing window for mass media nowadays. Madalena Laboratory explores taboos and highly sensitive social topics, using art to visualize concrete pathways to outdo injustice and to transform reality."

For my Master's thesis, I will be facilitating an intergenerational, interdisciplinary theatre workshop early this Fall for women. If you are interested in being a research participant, please contact me @ jiadevaia@prescott.edu. Our first informational meeting will be in September. 


Quotes used from:  Public Workshops   &   Theatre of the Oppressed NYC

The Long Story

With my job as a student admissions counselor at Prescott College, one of the questions I frequently ask people is "How did you find out about Prescott College?"

More often than not, the answer involves a chuckle and, "It's a long story."

I get it. I soooo get it. My long story involves three colleges, three majors, a high school job at a fast food place, near exile by my family, and an ex-boyfriend. Believe me, I epitomize the long story of "How does one find herself at Prescott College?"

I'm not alone, either. Ask anyone here how they got here. What were those teeny, tiny seemingly insignificant steps that led you to move your entire life and world to Prescott, Arizona? What happened in your 3-year gap year that brought you back to school? Who did you meet on that NOLS course, or Outward Bound expedition, that knew you would love this place so much? When did you realize that Business School wasn't anything that you'd imagined it to be, and you actually wanted to study Social Advocacy and Justice in a program where you're actually doing activist work?

It's not a matter of why you're here, but how you got here-- and what are you going to study, who are you going to meet that will enable you to grow, where are you going to go with your education?

Why? Everyone knows why you're here. You're here because you've realized that Prescott College is exactly where you need to be to accomplish your goals, and you know that it's the right place for you to do so. Why are you at Prescott College? Because you were meant to be here. That's what your long story boils down to, your answer to "How did you find out about Prescott College?"-- Somehow, a million factors led you to exactly where you needed to be.

Call it fate, call it the reason everything happens, whatever you would like-- it's why PC goes by "Education is a journey, not a destination," and it's why we believe that Life is a River.

Your long story doesn't stop when you get here-- it's likely not even the middle of your long story when you do. You have so much more that will happen during your time here and after that will define another long story of how you got to another place-- whether it be your dream job, your graduate school, or your life's work commemoration. But Prescott College will be a big part in any and all of those things, and the subsequent steps.

One of the most beautiful things about Prescott College is that I have met so many incredible people from all places in life with stories to tell, and that I feel like I am considered as one of those people, as well. I write this as there are just over two weeks before the new incoming students for this fall arrive to begin their educational journey at PC, and I'm very excited to meet them and hear their long stories.

"But really, how did you get here?"

-Steph Doss

A Weekend in Prescott, Arizona

This past week, my mom and brother came to Arizona for the first time ever, and spent the weekend with me in good ol' Prescott. I figured that a two-three day time frame is what many people visiting the area face, and so I created a quick weekend guide that (I think) hits some of the best places in Prescott! Of course, check out to see if we have any special events going on in town, as well as deals with accommodations, but I have heard great things from people who stay at the Motor Lodge or Heritage House, and there is a hostel in town for a lower cost option!

And please remember, that this is entirely based off of my opinions and experiences, so take it with a grain of salt, and pave your own path! 

Friday: 

8:00 AM -- Breakfast at Cupper's Coffee House on Cortez Street! If you're a coffee person like me, try out their cold brew, but if you like tea I highly recommend the Tibetan Chai.

8:45 AM -- Drove out to Thumb Butte (approx. 5-10 minutes from downtown) for the quintessential hike of Prescott. It's about an hour round trip I would say, and when you come up to the trail head you'll notice that there is a fork in the road. Truthfully, these are both ends of the trail, and the left one up is much steeper (i.e. initially difficult) than the right one, so it's really a pick your poison kind of thing! It's gorgeous from the top regardless though.

10:30 AM -- Headed to Prescott College (approx. 5 minutes from Thumb Butte) for a tour of the school. My family really hadn't seen it until my mom and brother came here, and I can honestly say they were head over heels for our campus, from the incredible amount of sustainable features to the level of activity going on, even in the summer time. (This part is especially important if you're a prospective student looking at this, because you can get a $250 Visit Grant for taking a tour, with the added bonus of falling in love with the school like I did.)

12:00 PM -- Lunch at the Crossroads Cafe! It's the dining option located on campus, and so it was an easy, convenient and yummy decision for us. 

1:00 PM -- Drove out to the Granite Dells (approx. 10-15 minutes from downtown), for the hike nicknamed "Below the Dam," that begins off of Granite Dells Road.   

I think doing this hike is the easiest way to convince anyone that Prescott is really, really rad. For whatever reason, I always kind of feel like a dinosaur there, just because there are these HUGE granite boulders towering everywhere and these little spurts of vegetation that grow between them. I don't know, it's just very Jurassic Park/Land Before Time to me, and I love it. As any 8 year old would be, my little brother was running ahead of us because of all his excitement. Both him and my mother said it was their favorite part of the trip.

As a fair warning, it is a longer hike, and so make sure you bring plenty of water, sunscreen and maybe a snack! It's not necessarily super strenuous, but it can be dexterously challenging at some parts, so just mind your footing. There are also tons and tons of bolted rock climbing routes set up in the area (many by the Prescott College instructor Kevin Keith), and so a stop at The Hike Shack or Manzanita Outfitters in town would be able to supply you with a guide to the routes, as well as trad climbing and bouldering in the area.

4:00 PM -- So after this massive hike, I dropped my family off at their hotel, and I went home, for all of us to take a quick shower and nap before dinner.

7:00 PM -- All refreshed, we walked to Taj Mahal on Montezuma Street for some exotic cuisine with a couple of my closest friends. The food there is some of the most delicious in town, and even my super picky brother couldn't resist trying some rice and chicken in sauce. I recommend the shrimp or fish masala with naan!

8:30 PM -- Walked back to my house for some evening tea and to recap the day we had. First day success, they loved it here!

Saturday:

7:30 AM -- Breakfast at Sweet Potato Cafe (approx. 5 minute drive from downtown), which if you don't try out their amazing sweet potato pancakes or sweet potato bread served with cinnamon butter, what's the point of going? This breakfast is quite filling, too!

8:30 AM -- We then parked in downtown, and did a morning walkabout the square, learning a little bit about the history and looking at the different shops. Most weekends in the summer there are art and craft vendors in the square, or some sort of special event! This summer, we celebrated the sesquicentennial of Prescott (150 year birthday), commemorated the anniversary of the 19 firefighters lost in the tragic Yarnell fire, and had several 4th of July parades during the same weekend as the World's Oldest Rodeo. We're a very proud and spirited town!

9:30 AM -- Next, we headed to the Yavapai College campus for the weekly farmer's market. During the winter, it is actually on the Prescott College campus. There are tons of local, organic produce sold by farmers, as well as many homemade jams and jelly, and for whatever reason, people love bringing their dogs to these kinds of things, so I was in heaven just petting everyone's pup. My mom got me this phenomenal pomegranate jelly made in Snowflake, AZ, which is really delicious with almond butter on a rice cake.

10:15 AM -- Drove to the Lynx Lake Ruins Trailhead (approx 15-20 minute drive from downtown). The entire Lynx Lake Recreation Area is gorgeous and has an incredible amount of trails for hiking, mountain biking, or horse riding, but I decided on this one for the educational aspect of the ruins. While to most it will look like a pile of rocks, it's actually just authentically the ruins of a nomadic tribe long ago that have never been touched. Another really awesome reason this short/easy hike (only 1.5 miles round trip) is worth it, is because at the top you get a beautiful view of the different water sheds coming together, as well as the various mountains and valleys that surround Prescott. We also did the neighboring trail, another short, beautiful hike through the riparian area.

(From a different time hiking the ruins trail, with friends. Pretty sure it was in February--check out the gorgeous weather!)

12:30 PM -- Since this was the last World Cup weekend and my mom and I are both futbol nuts, we had to find somewhere to watch the third place game, especially since my team (Netherlands) was in it. Cue Liquor Deli on Goodwin Street, which, despite its name, is a very family friendly place, where my little brother ate "the best chicken nuggets ever," and we spent a couple hours staring at a soccer screen and chatting with the employees about the upcoming final.

3:00 PM -- After a satisfying win by the Dutch, and lunch to boot, we decided to go on a nice mountain drive to the awesome town of Jerome (approx. 1 hour from Prescott). It's such a rad, artsy kind of place rich in mining history, and my mom loved it all. We spent some time just walking around and poking about the different shops, saw an old sliding jail and other historical elements left outside, and just enjoyed the afternoon there.

5:00 PM -- Then, I made an executive decision that they simply just had to SEE Sedona, because, well, it's Sedona and I had never seen anything so beautiful. But, it was getting late and by the time we would get there it would be close to 6, and then by the time we got back to Prescott it would be getting close to 8, and so we decided to just drive through. It was so worth it. The actual town of Sedona, Arizona is incredibly touristy and has capitalized on the hippie vibe deal too much, but even that cannot take away from the gorgeous-beyond-belief red rocks and spires that just surround and engulf you.

In my opinion, the best way to enjoy Sedona (or anywhere, really) is by hiking it, but we just didn't have time. We did stop at a trail head though, just to get some shots of the sunshine poking through the ominous thunder clouds rolling in.

7:30 PM -- Back in Prescott, we headed to The Raven (on Cortez Street) for dinner, where my exhausted brother ate a cheeseburger the size of his head, and my mom and I enjoyed some live music. Somehow The Raven always manages to have live music every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night without fail. We then parted ways for the last time, because they had a flight very early the next morning and needed to get down to Phoenix. They said they loved their time here, and were sure to come back.

And they have to because...

Sunday:

...they still haven't seen the Grand Canyon!

It's about a 3.5-4 hour drive from Prescott to the South Rim, and if you're feeling extra ambitious you can drive a bonus 4-5 hours to the North Rim, which will have less people but there and back you'll be in a car for basically an entire day. Either way, it's worth it.

With my best friend, almost a year ago, on the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon (South Rim). No editing done to this photo, it's really this beautiful.

So there ya go! If you ever pop into Prescott, Arizona for a weekend, I hope that you'll check out some of the places I mentioned on here! Every day I spend in this town, and state, I find new places and things to love, and I hope you will find that, too. 

--Steph Doss

(All pictures are mine.)

Road Trippin'

This summer, I'll be spending the majority of my time here in Prescott, working and taking some online classes to knock out some pre-requisites. But I still need to go home and see my family (and get my car inspected in its home state of New Jersey), and so I'll be trekkin' across the amber fields of grain next week.

The first time around, I did a lot of planning and took what I believed to be the most direct route across the country, mostly because that's what Google Maps told me. (Though after the initial find of the route we strictly used my atlas.)

My best friend and I packed ourselves up and headed west, that Kerouac dream. We split up the drive into what should have been 6 days, but ended up being only 5. 

First day was brutal, because it was straight from Jersey, across the not so exciting Pennsylvania, and into southeastern Ohio. We were in West Virginia for just about the exact length of time necessary for us to play "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver, and obviously belt it right along.

...country roads, take me home / to the place I belong / West Virginia, mountain mama / take me home, country roads...

Obviously we had to play it. We didn't really see any mountains and we were on interstate 70 so we didn't even see any country roads but we did pass a huge Cabela's. That night we found ourselves nestled into a nice, mosquito-filled campsite in the Wayne National Forest in the Ohio countryside. 

The next day, we trekked through the rest of Ohio and into Indiana, where we found a huge waterfall and saw this insane woman jumping off it. And then, of course, we did it too. For the novelty, of course...

We found ourselves afterwards exhausted and so made our way into the Mark Twain National Forest. The next day was going to be a haul if we expected to be in Texas the following night!

...And a haul it was. Trekked through Illinois, making time to stop at the billboard-advertised "Home of Lincoln" only to find out we were tricked, and it was only Lincoln's stepmother's summer home when she was 20, or something like that. Feeling jipped of the experience, we made our way across the state and into Missouri. 

People, I'm so sorry if you're from Missouri, but there's a reason people refer to it as "Misery." It was a truly horrible experience from start to end in that state, starting with our decision to go to the Jesse James Wax Museum (literally the scariest place I've ever been, and it's not supposed to be), and then getting to our campsite that night only to see a cannibalistic raccoon killing a fellow raccoon and then carrying it home to its nest. That was the point where we decided to get the heck out of there, and drove until 2 AM into Oklahoma.

We found ourselves at a Walmart parking lot right by a set of train tracks. Big store parking lots are great for getting a short sleep in your car when it's too late to find a campsite, but when you're in Tornado Alley and there's a train going off next to you every hour, you probably won't be sleeping too well. 

When we woke up, we took our crusty eyes and weary bodies to the nearest fast food establishment for any kind of comforting nourishment to make us feel a little more human, and I saw my absolute favorite part of the trip: a real life bison. 

Now, people, bison are my favorite animals. Many call them buffalo, wrongly so, because true buffalo are only found in Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. One of the gas stations we stopped at even had a few bison on the property and I got to get a lot closer! 

Anyway, after my freakout, we made our way into Texas. Ahh, good ol' Te-has. Our destination here was Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States, but our true goal of our time in the state was to each get an authentic cowboy hat. 

Palo Duro Canyon is gorgeous, and arguably a better place to go in the summer than the Grand Canyon simply for the significantly smaller amounts of tourists, and the ability to car camp for cheap inside the canyon. 

 I saw my first cactus here, the first of an innumerable amount of many more... We were truly in the southwest!

After our night in the canyon, this is when things got serious. First of all, we had only a few hours to get our cowboy hats. Our searches the day before had given us much more trouble. Cowboy hats in Texas are super serious business, and so we were looking at ridiculous prices of $300+, as well as straw hats, wool hats, crossovers, different hat buckle meaning, different fits, different brands, hats made by country singers. 

Honestly we didn't care all that much, we just wanted cool hats to commemorate our experiences and the chance to say "Yeah I got this in Texas, it's pretty legit." In retrospect that's pretty lame, but I've changed a lot since then.. Anyway, we got 'em. For cheap, too, each of ours was less than $30 AND authentic wool. That's me on the left with my best friend Joe in our new hats. 

The other dilemma was that we were definitely going to go through New Mexico, but should we actually stop there? We even took a pointless detour to Santa Fe to see if it could convince us, but no. We wanted 'Zona, and we did not want to wait. So we drove from Amarillo, Texas to Prescott, Arizona in one day, a hearty 11 hour driving day alone, not counting our cowboy hat search, bathroom breaks and food breaks. 

But oh man, was it worth it. We made it into the state just in time for this vivid sunset view.

I was sold. I was so ready to start my life here. I fell in love with the state instantly. 

We ended up reaching Prescott at midnight on August 15. We had no where to stay and couldn't find a campsite, so once again we pseudo-slept in my car. It didn't matter. We were here, I was starting a new chapter, we were happy. 

And so now, I'm heading back east. I flew back for about a week over winter break, but I haven't really thought about driving back since I drove here. So much has changed, and I know I will never have the same beautiful experience as I did first time around. But this country is a magical place, and I plan on taking different routes this time to get there and back, and I'm excited to explore as much of it as I can while I get the chance to. 

--Steph Doss

All pictures are mine, except the screenshot of the Google Maps map. .

WEB Conference!

WEB stands for Women's Empowerment Breakthrough.

The girls of the 2014 WEB Conference!

What's WEB? In 2003, a group of students from Prescott College created a conference for teenage girls in response to high rates of teen pregnancy, sexual assault, and drug use among the young women in Yavapai county. Courtney Osterfelt helped the conference evolve in to Women's Empowerment Breakthrough, an organization that helps young women explore, define, and achieve their goals! WEB just recently celebrated its 11th birthday this year! 

This year's Annual WEB conference took place from April 17th-19th at Mingus Springs Camp on Mingus Mountain. Over fifty teenage girls and counselors came together to grow and learn about themselves, each other, and how they can make a difference in the world! For three days, the girls participated in team-building initiatives, fun recreational activities and their choice of workshops facilitated by local professional women and community members who volunteer their time and support to WEB. The workshops cover such topics as women’s health, using your voice, self-esteem and positive body-image, family dynamics, safe relationships, substance-abuse prevention, creative expression, leadership skills, sexual-assault awareness, self-defense, cultural diversity, breaking barriers, and even basic auto-mechanics.

Learning how to change oil!

Why WEB? The aim of the annual conference is to provide young women with the knowledge, community, and support that they need to gain self-confidence, develop their sense of self, and build community. WEB also strives to introduce the participants to a network of supportive women, educational activities, and resources to build confidence and develop leadership skills.

This year’s conference theme was “I Believe”. Two inspiring and nationally recognized female hip hop artists, Chalease and Olivia, provided a performance and workshop at the WEB conference this year. Both their performance and their workshop addressed self-expression, empowerment, and the importance of standing up for what you believe in. We also got to be a part of their premier music video about women’s empowerment for their song titled “I Believe." 

A group of Prescott College students volunteer as counselors for WEB every year. This year, I got to be a part of that group. The seven teenage girls who slept in my cabin were from two different middle schools in Yavapai county. They reminded me what it is like to transition into a teenager in this generation.. It's tough. I remember how harsh middle school and high school were for me. I wish we all could have had a program like WEB to empower us and help us meet other empowered women, too. I'm so glad WEB exists for these girls. I know that it is making a difference in their lives.

For more info, visit http://womensempowerment.wordpress.com/
Get involved! email WEB at womensempowerment@prescott.edu
or Courtney Osterfelt at costerfelt@prescott.edu

Jenna Trizzino

BIKES GONE WILD!

At Prescott College, we've got a few sub-cultures going on here.

You've got the Cultural and Regional Studies people, continually and admirably fighting for justice against our warped societal expectations and judgments.

You've got the Environmental Science guys and gals, lovingly referred to by some as the "bio-nerds" (...and only here will you be able to learn about riparian areas and raptor habitats at a college party).



And then you've got the AE kiddos. The thrill-seeking future adventure educators that seem to be in constant motion, whether it be from activity to activity or location to location. This weekend, these folks as well as the active townies Prescott, Arizona will be dominating the 11th annual Whiskey Off-Road mountain bike races taking place in the Prescott National Forest.

If you've ever hiked/biked/horse rode through the Prescott National Forest's trails, climbed Thumb Butte, been to the Copper Basin Lookout, or even really just been through Prescott, Arizona, you know how freaking gorgeous the landscapes are here. As reported by Epic Rides, "While riding the Whiskey course...once in the forest, participants will experience technical fast single track, smooth fire roads, quality climbing and vistas that will leave them speechless."

Vistas like this....

Bouldered to the top of Thumb Butte this past fall, with my friend Orion!

Copper Basin Lookout one sunny morning in March!

Hopefully, views like these two won't be so speechless so as to distract from the real goal: the custom, commemorative Finishers' Pint Glass that is an homage to the namesake of the event, Prescott's very own Whiskey Row.

(But really, there's a pretty hefty cash prize, too. Here's how the prizes are split up.)

For those of us who are not so dexterous on a two wheeler bouncing up and down 135 degree angles of essentially just rock and cactus and maybe a pseudo-flat part in there somewhere (me), there's still the opportunity to revel in the mountain biking culture!

Events and vendors will be all around the closed-off downtown area all weekend, meaning DO NOT EVEN TRY TO DRIVE THROUGH! Seriously, you'll go nuts trying to navigate around the blocked off areas and people flooding in. Downtown Prescott's events are always like that. Your best bet is to find parking somewhere else and walk over, or if you're like me and live within walking distance (yet still use a car...) get your lazy bum up and about in the spirit of fitness and activity!

Here's the schedule of events, with tons of live music for all, kids activities during the day, and special offers for those 21 and over throughout the weekend!

...And to tie this right back in bicycles at Prescott College, we've got an awesome club on campus called HUB. HUB stands for Helping Understand Bicycles, and began as someone's senior project. Essentially, he gathered together all the abandoned bikes and bike parts he could find from police stations, junkyards, and the like, and rallied volunteers together to teach people how to build and fix their own bicycles, completely for free.

This program is still going on today, and I'm hoping that this weekend will inspire me and others to get into HUB and build a bike! You can get basically anywhere in Prescott on bicycle, and I, personally, feel wasteful (and underactive) using my car. Allegedly, you can build your own bike in two hours...

But hey, maybe y'all will see me next year, stumbling down the trails and sliding roughly into the finish line three hours after the rest of the crowd! I can dream...

--Steph Doss

(First and last pictures were found on Google, middle two are mine.)

What’s Your College Degree Worth?

Matt Seats

Graduation is approaching quickly for many at Prescott College (PC). Was it all worth it? What difference can that shiny new diploma make for you and your future? According to 2012 US labor statistics, it can mean a lot!

Those graduating with a Bachelor’s degree are likely to earn 1.6 times as much as they might have had they decided to skip college and go straight into the job market from high school. Those who earn a Master’s degree are likely to double the salary they would have gotten with only a high school diploma! Over the course of a lifetime, that can mean the difference between living check-to-check or owning your own home, or farm, or having money in the bank when you retire one day.

With a Master’s degree, you can expect to earn 1 million dollars more in your lifetime than if you only had a high school diploma – and nearly two million dollars more than if you had dropped out of high school! Starting to feel a little better about spending the time and money on college? You should. College isn’t a thing you spent money on that you’ll never see again. College is an investment in your future, a means to a more solid and stable income, choices. Your PC education has been a valuable exercise in interdisciplinary learning and applying what you learned to real-world situations.

So what is next? Some will leave school and head straight to work in the field that they have studied for the past four (or six – or more) years. Others will start their own businesses, or nonprofits, or move into charitable work for others. Some will return to school next semester for more advanced degrees, or begin teaching others the things they learned. And some…well, some just don’t know yet – and that’s ok!

Most PC grads have just completed 16-20 years of nonstop education. That is a HUGE achievement! It’s ok if post-graduation plans haven’t progressed beyond taking a week, or a month, or a year off to decompress and explore your options. You’ve earned it.

So go home, see family, visit friends, travel the country, or the world. Expand your horizons. Think about the things you might want to do in your future and try them on for size for a while. See if they “fit” or not. You have the tools to try out the things you love to do as a profession now. PC has prepared you to be a leader. So take control, be decisive, and never let anyone tell you that something can’t be done. You know better. Jump in and make a difference in the world! And know that your college degree has given you the power to create, and earn, a better future.