Shawn portrait
  • Expedition: Feb 3-8, 2002
  • Shawn
  • Reedley and Tokay High Schools
  • Sierra National Forest: Hite's Cove

First Impressions

The best part of the day so far, we went out to this meadow that was covered with ice and snow. We went out onto the ice and lay there and looked at the stars and the cliffs in amazement. The stars were fun to watch and all of us wished on the shooting stars.

Goals and Expectations

Some things I expect to get out of WildLink...a better understanding of our environment...meet new people and teens, go camping, see new sights, have fun! We leave tomorrow for our actual camping trip...I wonder what that will bring...

Wilderness Haiku

Blue sky, sun, birds, friends
Laughter, friendship never ends
These are the times, enjoy!

My Background and Wilderness

My background as a child was [that] camping is fun. Being in nature and by yourself without modern stuff was a necessity to learn [about]. I was brought up to respect nature and [then] she will show you some beautiful sights. I like to camp and have firends with me. Nature is our friend.

Being under the stars these last couple of days has made me realize what I want to do with my life. I want to be an astronomer. I always have, even as a little kid [been interested in] the stars and the question, "is there life out there?" I thought I was sure that I would be a lawyer but I think my parents kind of influenced that. I want to be astronomer! Just think, every star in the sky is like our sun, [and] if one-tenth of those stars had just one planet like ours (sort of), and one-tenth of those planets had life, and one-tenth of the life was intelligent, then there would literally be millions of billions of civilizations out there, waiting for us to make contact with [them]!

WildLink is a proud partner of the National Park Service, National Forest Service, and Nature Bridge.