b'If I have learnedyou all made up while setting up camp. And then you share what was hardLAST anything in 47about your day. Your friend looks at years on the planet,you, and says, I felt that too. YEAR IN its this: the powerIts the embodiment of this quote byREVIEWDesmond Tutu, I am human because of nature createsyou are human. My humanity is caught deeper connections toup in yours. 150ourselves and others.How I love that quote! We have a role in the mental wellness of our youth. Todays young people are desperate forWe can show them how to connect inCOURSESconnection, and not the sort of half truthnature, and through that, they can see connection from social media. No, theythe humanity in one another.want the deeper kind where they smileAs I approach the end of my time at2,000broadly from a shared moment, or cryOutward Bound California, I see this unabashedly in front of someone, knowingletter as my own closing circle of sorts. they see you and will stay. Its the kind ofSo like the students who share their connection you feel after a crewmate helpstakeaways, this is mine: I know that theSTUDENTSyou carry your pack the last mile wheninspiration I had on my own courses, you are tired and hungry or you just needand seeing our students breakthrough someone to sit with you and watch theand connect on theirs, has settled into stars twinkle.my DNA and will forever be a part of8,200My heart aches for the challenges youthme. Im so grateful that for 25 years I are experiencing today. I long for them tohave been a witness to young peoples have a sense of belonging and connection.lives forever changed for the betterDAYS OF I see what they are losing now in the agefrom their time in nature with OutwardPROGRAMMINGof technology, global health and climateBound and each other. crisis and the fast paced world. What doesIn community,it mean to slow down, pause and connect with another human in nature?94Lately, I find myself thinking about something a student said on the closing circle of his Outward Bound course. HeDIFFERENT GROUPS said he could use his brain again after hisATTENDED OUR week of phone-less backpacking in theNETTIE PARDUE CHALLENGE ROPES desert. We are all glued to technology andCOURSE AT JOHN we need to be reminded, and even taught,MCLAREN PARKhow to look up, look around and see our surroundings.At Outward Bound, we provide that. Its a28glimpse into life without the internet all the time, where at the end of your day, you sit shoulder to shoulder with your newestVETERANSfriend, while cupping your hands around hot chocolate, and laugh over the silly song'