At a school like GW, the grind truly never stops — especially over the summer. At least, that’s what I had convinced myself for most of my freshman year.
I spent countless hours last semester scrolling through Handshake and LinkedIn and researching resume and cover letter tips, hoping to secure the perfect summer internship. Despite all this, I didn’t find myself in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, on K Street or even at a hometown law firm.
Instead, I spent this past summer on a 16-acre organic farm on the Oregon Coast Range, wrist-deep in the soft dirt picking weeds from a tomato patch, my laptop more than 400 miles away at home. It turns out that no matter how much I love GW and the fast-paced, work-hard play-hard environment of D.C., eventually all I wanted was a change of scenery.
During the spring semester, I worked 25 hours a week at an internship that required full business formal attire on top of taking four classes. After four months of quick-changing in the bathroom of Tompkins Hall like a 19-year-old Hilltern Superman and stuffing True Burger fries in my mouth on the Mount Vernon Express to avoid being late to class because of an hour-long commute, I was ready for a break.
My Pacific Northwestern heart yearned for a camping trip, not a networking event. I started counting down the days until mid-May and resenting the idea of spending my summer in D.C. — a plan I’d already set my mind on months before.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too late. When I was rejected from my dream internship, all I really felt was relief. That’s when I learned about World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Using WWOOF’s website, a network of organic farm owners register as hosts to offer room and board in exchange for roughly 15-20 hours a week of work, no experience necessary.
Arrangements differ in strenuousness and accommodations, but my friend and I — we both were searching for unique and affordable ways to spend time outdoors over the summer — found our home for July in a vintage RV nestled in a picturesque valley between foggy, forested mountains just 30 minutes inland from the beautiful Oregon coast.
This made it the perfect jumping-off point to split our time between working on the farm and going camping, hiking, swimming or exploring the region, which our hosts graciously encouraged.
And it was because of this arrangement that I made countless invaluable memories, like eating fresh strawberries right off the plant after a dip in the creek, jumping into a swimming hole from a 50-foot bridge, herding cows from pasture to pasture and hiking barefoot in the Cascade Mountains to a chilling 35-degree alpine pool whose cerulean hue looked something out of a Disney movie.
We tossed underripe apples into the pig pen and watched them gobble the fruit up like, well, pigs, ate farm-fresh scrambled eggs and mint on the porch as the farm dogs and farm cats rustled against my ankles, stalked elk on a hike with an unbelievable view of the Pacific Ocean and star-gazed around a campfire while getting to know middle-aged farmers and fellow college-aged WWOOFers alike.
These activities weren’t mindless. What better time is there to debate whether a weed is a social construct than while digging up a thistle root or whether the future of sustainable food production lies in lab-grown meat or plant-based diets than while eating homemade pesto pasta for dinner?
Leaving behind the city, the office and the classroom did not mean leaving behind critical thinking or the Socratic method. With the right companionship, a small personal library and a dozen strokes of good luck, I found myself in a beautiful place, learning more about my goals, my values, my capabilities and the wonders of the world than I ever anticipated.
Youth is brief and precious, and there are endless opportunities to explore life in interesting ways without interrupting or preventing professional development. If you’re passionate about helping people, like many GW students are, then spending time meeting strangers and learning to love humanity is important. If you’re passionate about the environment, like me, spending time outdoors is a great way to remind yourself what you’re fighting for and to learn new ways to incorporate sustainability into your lifestyle.
The world will never stop needing dedicated professionals, which GW is perfectly capable of cultivating. But we should live happy and full lives where we get to experience the world we want to change — a world that goes beyond Foggy Bottom and D.C.
Admitting that you’re not sure what you want to do after graduation can feel like a faux pas at a school with a student body as ambitious as GW’s. But leaving the city let me reevaluate what I wanted out of life, not just out of a job, and to think about a less linear career path that might include things like seasonal outdoor work and travel. The summer away gave me space to continue learning and growing into adulthood without feeling stuck in my childhood bedroom or in an office. Coming back to school last week, I felt more able to appreciate the things I missed about D.C.
Summer is the much-needed breath of fresh air in the marathon of pursuing a degree. WWOOFing allowed me to take a moment to calm down, stop, think and love life. There are lots of ways to do this, but I happen to be partial to those which take place outdoors. Spend your summers in ways that help you learn and grow.
Terra Pilch-Bisson, a sophomore majoring in American studies, is an opinions writer.