George Merrill: AESOP leader and molder of young minds

Hey guys,

My name is George Merrill, a rising junior here at Bates. At the start of this summer I made an impulsive, last-minute decision to go back to Maine to work at camp Chewonki, a summer camp for boys in Wiscasset. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, so it’s been an interesting summer to say the least. In past years I’ve slaved away as a bicycle mechanic, working long hours while covered in grease for bosses who aren’t familiar with the concept of windows or air conditioning. With the majority of my paychecks going towards wholesale priced bike parts, I figured I could deal with the scary-low wages of a summer camp. Also, who isn’t down to get paid to play outside?

It’s been a fun summer, but it’s been an exhausting one at the same time. I’ve spent countless hours telling campers not to shoot each other at the archery range, I’ve done tons of canoeing, and been to both Acadia National Park and Baxter State Park. All with boys around the feisty young age of about eleven. The annoying aspects aside, no one can provide ridiculous amusement quite like and eleven year old on an archery range or a wilderness trip.

This experience has been an awesome one full or highs and lows, and maybe a little more type-two fun than I initially signed up for. But hey, it’s been an adventure and now I can check it off the list of things I don’t regret but will never do again, even if they try to tempt me with pay above minimum wage. I’m excited to get back to Bates so I can hike in the Prezies with some people my own age.

I’m looking forward to meeting all of you guys in a few short weeks!

If self-indulgent, haphazard, rambling prose intrigues you: read on

HIYA folks.

                  I’ve written a bit about what I’ve been up to this summer, and more specifically how I make my indoor internship a little greener. If self-indulgent, haphazard, rambling prose intrigues you: read on.

                  My name is Michela Moscufo and I am a rising junior, English and Art History double major. I am working at my favorite museum in Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, helping out in the Education Department and living with my family in Brookline, a neighborhood over. The job itself is super awesome but decidedly not the outdoor gig a lot of the other AESOP leaders are enjoying. As much as I would love to be frolicking in the sunshine (in any capacity), I am collecting and analyzing data about the Museum’s programs, helping little kids make collages, and preparing for tours I am giving in Spanish. But what makes the long unpaid hours worth the while is the fact that I get to wander the darkened halls of this museum before it opens to the public. For half an hour every morning I tip toe from room to room, afraid to break the silent spell of Art and gaze in wonder at the shadowed frames of Whistler and Sargent.

[This museum comprises the private collection of one Isabella Gardner, who decided to build a Venetian palazzo for herself in the beginning of the 20^th century and fill it to the brim with art. Besides being one of the first people understand the value of art patronage in this country, she used to walk lions on a leash around Boston and wore her Red Sox baseball cap to see shows at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She stated in her will that if one single thing be moved or changed from the way she had organized her museum, the entire collection should be sold at an auction in Paris and all the proceeds be donated to Harvard University. So dope.]

                  As I walk around her house, I get a sense for what it was like to live here. What it was like to walk downstairs in the early morning hours and see these gilded frames lit by sunlight and not artificial light. What it is like to see art without a security guard shifting nervously behind you, making sure you don’t get too close. What it is like to see the most incredible works ever made, alone in a room. When I return to my favorite room (the Blue Room) during the day, an older Russian security guard is always there. He has a PhD in Psychology and tells me secrets about the paintings, things he has noticed from standing in that room for 4 hours a day for 20 years. His favorite painting is a watercolour John Singer Sargent painted of Venice: “when I look at it, it makes every day feel like a spring day.”

                  As magical as it is to be inside this museum, I need more green. We are connected as AESOP leaders and AESOPers by our love for outdoor spaces, and the experiences that they facilitate.

                  I am lucky that even sitting at my desk, I am surrounded my green. The glass walls that enclose the Education Department office run parallel to the glass enclosure of one of the museum’s many greenhouses. What this means is that across the hallway from my desk are beautiful and exotic plants, whose growth and maturation I have monitored joyfully these past two months. As I day dream at my desk, avoiding the surveys I have to write and mountain of art theory books I have to catalogue, my eyes wander to the mountains of green with the blue, white, yellow blossoms, the stunning pink “Bleeding Hearts,” the dark somber holly. Sometimes I go inside for a second to feel the hydrangeas up close, or inspect the delicate ferns, then quickly slip back to my desk where the humidity level is more manageable.

                  When I need even more green I go to the museum’s courtyard, which is a Venetian façade that Isabella inverted because she thought that the balconies and columns were too beautiful to be exposed to the harsh city air. The soft, faded pink of the walls sparkles in the sunlight that streams in from the glass roof. The soft hum of wondered speech passes through the galleries, and drifts across the courtyard garden.

                  Another way I make my internship greener is to bike everywhere. I bike to work along the Riverway of the Emerald Necklace, a string of parks that Fredrick Law Olmstead made to frame the Muddy River than runs from Brookline into the Fens of Boston. The dog days of summer makes the trees glisten and sparkle, and I swear everyone in Brookline is humming. As I bike to work I listen to Dr. Dog, whose soft raspy voice wraps around concepts of emancipation and nostalgia like no one else’s can. As I bike home I get lost in the windy residential roads and breathe in the sunset. Green turns to black and I am starting to learn what a full days’ work means, what it means to be surrounded by beauty, and what it means to work for an organization that you believe in.

I hope you all are seeking out the green in unexpected places. See you in August.

Michela.

A view of the courtyard (although no cameras are allowed in the museum)

When Ankle-deep Mud is a Blessing - A Summer in the White Mountains with the Randolph Mountain Club

Hey guys! My name's Jordan. I'm one of the assistant coordinators (along with Nat and Sasha) for this years AESOP program.

I hope the summer is treating you well because it certainly is being quite kind to me.  I’m up in the northern Presidential Range of New Hampshire half-way through my third season of trail work with the Randolph Mountain Club.  As part of my job I spend most of my time camped in the woods at project sights and am therefore very in-tune with whether patterns.  This summer has been gloriously beautiful.  Most of my project sites have only had ankle-deep mud rather than knee deep quagmires, which I became accustomed to last season where it rained more often than not.  BUT that’s New England for ya.  Don’t like the weather?  Wait five minutes and it will change.  But let’s be real; I am being paid to play in the mud with some wonderful people in an amazing place so I can hardly complain.

When I’m out of the woods I usually don’t stray too far from my mountains and often spend my free time climbing, running, and biking them.  I had this past week off from work in order to keep my body from falling to far into dilapidation (trail work is HARD but very rewarding).  On Thursday I was able to join with one of my geology professors (I’m a geology major), and some fellow Batesies for a day of bedrock-mapping in the Northern Presidentials.  The day consisted of an adventurous bush-whack along a stream system with the perfect combination of exertion (both mental and physical), pleasant conversation, and smiles.  The return to Randolph yielded soggy feet, the content silence often following a day of hard work, and a bag of wild Chantrelles (a type of delicious wild mushroom). 

On the very few occasions where I am not playing or working in the woods I am occupied with perfecting the details of a small business venture that a few friends and I began last year with Bates dining. More importantly though, I spend my time daydreaming about AESOP and concocting plans to make this year unforgettable! 

I am very excited to meet you all in August (jeesh… which is next month!!!!).  If you’re interested in learning a little more about where I’m from, what makes me tick, and the New England outdoors in general, feel free to email me at jcargill@bates.edu

Jordan (left), ankle-deep in mud, loving life

Jordan, wearing a straw hat, climbing, loving life

Because I’m a Batesie, and we’re weird like that.

Dearest and Most Esteemed ‘SOPers-

My name is Beau Sperry, I'm a senior English major, and I will be valiantly co-leading the Odyssean journey known only as “Maine Coastal Chillin II,” an arduous undertaking during which we will abstain from such biological necessities as quinoa and Wi-Fi in order to become one with “le Bobcat.”  Boomslam.  The current coordinating regime (mostly Bryan) asked me to write a brief post about who I am and what I’m up to this summer in preparation for AESOP, so here we are.  I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and have returned home after spending a year and a Short Term abroad.  I am currently working as a research consultant in the Department of Biomedical Ethics and Humanities at the University of Utah School of Medicine.  I’m leading a pilot project for the NIH concerning new tech approaches to informed consent (rhetorical question: when was the last time anyone actually read a pamphlet at a doctor’s office? Sweetest answer ever: there’s [going to be] an app for that) and conducting literature reviews on the ethical standards behind newborn whole-genome sequencing as a method for prophylactic care and the broadened conception of public and private benefit and loss that arises from screening.  At this point you may be thinking, “Why would an English major pursue Bioethics?”  Here’s the answer:

Because I’m a Batesie, and we’re weird like that. 

Glad to have you aboard.

So after leaving the lab one day I realized that I was in Utah, one of the most geographically diverse and striking regions in the world.  Shortly after this epiphany, I called up fellow leader and vision of awesomeness Sophie Pellegrini and queried, “yo, can we like, spend a week and a half backpacking through southern Utah doe?” Subsequently, I learned that when you ask someone something that awesome there’s really only one answer.  So we’re about to do that, and my hypedness knows no bounds.  Despite the fact that the geography of southern Utah differs slightly from Coastal Maine (http://natekat.com/2011/05/10/zion-day-4-angels-landing/), we AESOP leaders like to be, you know, prepared for anything.  With any luck, this trip will be half as awesome as AESOP will be.  That may be asking too much, but we’ll keep you posted anyhow.

So excited to meet everyone and immediately be reminded of why Bates, Batesies, and Maine are magnificent beyond description. 

Lastly, feel free to shoot me an email with any questions about summer, ‘SOP, or school, I’m happy to answer them! (bsperry@bates.edu)

Yours, amicably (brah)—Beau  

Sasha Moving Stacks (of Magazines)

Welcome to the AESOP Blog! I'm so happy you made your way here. My name's Sasha and I'm one of the assistant coordinators for this year's AESOP program.

Summer is one of the best times of year--no homework, beach days, family vacation, and strawberries. But recently I have been feeling like AESOP is the best time of year.

Don't get me wrong; I love my time in the sun. I have been interning at the Maine Media Collective, a company that produces three magazines, guides to doing various activities in the state, look books, a radio show, and some awesome stickers. The company has an art collector department, sponsors over 70 nonprofits, produces a food and wine festival on the coast, and features the culture of the state. All in all pretty impressive small business with incredible people. It’s unlike any job I have ever had--fast paced, rewarding, and genuinely fun. If you are interested, the three magazines titles Maine Magazine, Maine Home+Design Magazine, and Old Port Magazine, all really fun to browse with unique stories that perfectly capture the great state of Maine. 

While the beach, my job, and the New York Times bestseller list are all awesome, AESOP is going to be an amazing and wild ride. The best summer activities (hiking, biking, backpacking, canoeing, base camping) happen during AESOP week, and as much as I love my family, I'm ready to get out there with some pretty great people and make friends I'll have for the rest of college. I know this may sound like an annoying push for AESOP, but what could be better than a week dedicated exclusively to fun with the best student leaders around? Not much. Hence the best time of year. 

Anyway, enjoy whatever it is your doing this summer and I'll see you soon!

#NatLife

Hello!

I am one of the assistant coordinators, and I’m writing to give you all an update on what I’m up to this summer. As you all know from my bio on the “Meet the coordinators” page which I’m sure all of you have read and memorized, I am from Vermont and am living here this summer.

I am currently working for the Governor of Vermont on his re election campaign. I am doing communications for the campaign as well as some field work. Day to day I run the Governor’s facebook page, twitter and handle all campaign problems. I have never before tweeted, and so I have had to master the 140 character message quickly (conclusion: twitter is dumb). I really love politics and this is the third campaign I have worked on. On my previous campaigns I was a field organizer so I spent a lot of time organizing people and events. But this time around I mainly work from my office in Burlington VT (if you’re from this area and want to meet up and talk Bates/AESOP give me a holla!!) This job is pretty interesting and I work with great people. But that being said, I am learning that a desk job might not be right for me.

As you have found out from my bio (just read my bio jeez) I really like being outside. I think that my co coordinators would agree that we all get agitated being inside for too long. Often, I stare out my office windows and dream of hiking and biking. In my free time I have been cycling a lot. I am living in Stowe Vt, which is home to Vermont’s tallest mountain Mount Mansfield. The ride I like the best is the notch between mansfield and another ski area, Smugglers notch. This ride is awesome but basically almost kills you. With a set of extremely steep switchbacks at the top you think that you may go into cardiac arrest but just as you almost pass out you reach the top. Its way better than it sounds.

Other than biking, I hike a lot, eat a lot and look for swimming holes. I have also been preparing for my semester abroad this fall. After we send you guys out on trips, I am hopping on a plane to Nepal! I have been reading up on Kathmandu where I will be living for three months, and I’m getting a little nervous about going. Also very excited. Thats pretty much it! All and all its been a great summer so far and I’m really looking forward to coming back to Bates in August. Spending my last days in the States with my co coordinators and AESOP leaders is going to be the perfect sendoff. I can’t wait.

Lastly, here are some tips for your summer after you graduate high school/before you come to Bates: relax. a lot. Have fun. You’ve gotten into a great school, be happy. Don’t worry about Bates because AESOP is the best thing you will ever do until you lead an AESOP.

Feel free to email me and ask me questions if you want! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Nat

nsilver@bates.edu

A Scene in Seatown - Bryan's June in the Northwest

Seattle showing her colors the other night. (Anyone see the space needle?)

Class of 2018, what up!

Let me set a scene for you: I’m currently writing from a nice little coffee shop in Seattle (not Starbucks, I promise). A punk-rock barista is playing jazz records over speakers that barely reach my ears in a dimly lit alcove within the shop. I’m drinking a latte that is strangely delicious while I slowly make progress on this blog entry (among an increasing number of other things). For a kid who grew up in a suburb where lattes were just as obscure as John Coltrane, such vignettes as the one I currently find myself in are laughable, but they are also entrancing. For the past month, I’ve been living in a city and carrying out a life frequently defined by these scenes, and while at first I found it hard to get past Seattle’s novelty, now I find myself disarmingly taken over by it.

Not all my time here has been spent in coffee shops though. My real calling has been a program that I have described to others as a ‘business boot camp.' It’s called Koru, and I have to admit that it has changed my life. I know what you might be thinking at this point: “Woah, I thought this was the AESOP blog? What the hell is this guy doing talking about coffee, jazz, and life-changing boot camps? Can’t you just stick to backpacking or something?” To be honest, questions like those are totally reasonable, but bear with me for a second; if this post goes according to plan, I’ll arrive at an insightful way to tie all these things together at some point soon. 

So the first thing I’ll address is this Koru thing. What is Koru? Koru is a program designed for liberal arts students to help accelerate them towards getting their first great job. You practice business skills, and help identify what you are passionate about and how you can translate that into the job of your dreams. The Koru website does a good job of explaining all the other little details of the program.

Why has it been life-changing for me? Simply put, Koru has done a tremendous job at bridging the skills I learned at Bates (complex problem-solving, analytical thinking, writing) into something an employer likes to see. I now have the cards in my hand for immediately getting a meaningful job after this year is over and I walk off that graduation stage. 

How does this relate to you as a incoming first year? Well to be honest, it probably doesn’t. If you were anything like me coming into Bates, jobs were the last thing on your mind. Hell, just registering for the right AESOP trip was causing me anxiety.  But maybe this is also exactly why I am telling you about it. Early in my Bates career I think I fell into the camp of people who didn’t quite pick up on the looming of nature of post-Bates life. I saw school as a self-contained entity; a place where we get our diplomas and then try and find a job in something completely unrelated to what we had been doing for the four years prior. And of course I've come to see this viewpoint as kind of foolish. If Koru has taught me one thing that might be applicable to you all as incoming students, it is that there are always connections between the liberal arts and the “real world,” and that they are far more fortified than people peg them to be. To be clear—my advice to you is simple: embrace your upcoming foray into Bates academics with as much open-mindedness as possible. Never approach a class on Frost or abstract probability theory as a necessarily closed environment of academia. As it turns out, the thinking you'll do in these classes isn't far from the thinking you’ll be doing in your future jobs. 

Being open-minded is another key lesson I’ve taken away from my time being a city-dweller in Seattle this past month. Never living in a city before, I was certainly unsure I'd be able to fit into the fast-paced and diverse culture. But just by being open-minded, by embracing the punk-rock barista, I’ve been able to have one of the best months of my recent life. 

I think that will do it for now. Since Koru is now over, I’ll have more time to post on this blog more often, so keep checking back for updates. I'll be here some of July and plan on going on some sick trips throughout Washington. Also look out for posts from the other coordinators and leaders. 

As always if you're ever looking to talk about AESOP or Bates, or even have a reaction to what we write here, please feel free to drop us an email at aesopbates@gmail.com

Looking forward to the fall!

-Bryan

Famous (?) honey lavender ice cream from Molly Moon

Me (right) with friends from Koru and FABIO

Red Sox @ Mariners, 6/25. Sox win.