Looking at the mountains surrounding the Tucson Valley, I realized that I had no recollection of what they looked like. While I had once possessed an intimate knowledge of many of the slot canyons and ridgelines, the mountains had become foreign peaks. I better understood the words my grandmother had said when she picked me up from the airport earlier in the week.
“It’s a good thing you recognized me because I wouldn’t have recognized
you. It’s been so long since I last saw you. Have you lost weight? You
look like you’ve lost a lot of weight.”
While I did not think the mountains had lost much, if any, weight,
I certainly would not have been able to identify them as the crags
which cradle the city of Tucson. Yet, as I am sure that my grandmother
was thankful to see me after so much time, so was I thankful to see
these mountains. I felt a need to rediscover some of the forgotten
knowledge that I learned while in the desert or learn some new
principles.
Working as an SCA intern on a restoration and revegetation crew at
Saguaro National Park four years ago, I had gathered a wide array of
knowledge that went beyond GPS points and plant communities. The most
significant knowledge I gained during my five month internship was an
understanding of my capacity to draw deep into my abilities to meet a
challenge, of my need to devote myself to service rather than fame or
fortune, and of my desire to work in the field of conserving our
natural resources.
So, on a journey of discovery, I returned to Tucson to enjoy the
company of my family, walk through a few canyons, and bask in relaxed
mornings at my aunt’s house. In addition to these casual pursuits which
would hopefully bring on nirvana, I was attending a workshop on SCA’s
Alumni Ambassador program that, by virtue of its being called a
workshop, I assumed would teach me something new.
After arriving in Tucson midday on Thursday, enjoying an afternoon
and a day with my family, I headed to the Tucson Mountain District
Visitor Center of Saguaro National Park for the workshop on early
Saturday afternoon. My lessons so far consisted of rediscovering
sunburn, prickly pear cactus thorns, and the oranges in my aunt’s
backyard but had yet to coalesce into any new life lessons. I was
looking forward to the workshop putting semi-structured thought and
discussion into the weekend.
The workshop covered introductions, SCA recruiting, and
conservation stewardship. The dialogue ranged from how to implement
ideas generated at the workshop to more esoteric questions of how SCA
can better achieve its goals. Through the day’s discussion nearly every
alumni present shared the same principles from their time with the SCA:
a confidence to rise to challenges, a devotion to service, and a love
of conservation. Not only are alumni incorporating these lessons into
their lives after SCA, but all indicated a desire to be active with SCA
whether helping recruit, assisting current interns, or organizing other
alumni because they lived by the lessons they learned.
My trip to Tucson finished after another peaceful day with family
and a flight out Monday morning as the sun crested the Santa Catalina
Mountains. As I left, I realized it was foolish of me to expect to
learn as much in five days as I had learned in as many months. However,
I came to understand that I had internalized the lessons I learned as
an intern, so that they no longer required effort to abide by them.
Instead of discovering new lessons, I learned that old principles had
become guiding beliefs of my life. By Aaron Pratt- Saguaro NP 2002, Cuyahoga Valley NP/Capitol Hill 2004
|
Alumni 
