Interviewer 1 (Int1): JH, how has your experience been on the trip so far?
JH: It was very fun. I enjoyed the hikes a lot. And probably my favorite part was playing predator/prey with everyone. But, um, I mean, the only suggestion I might have is, I don’t know, I’m thinking…ugh….oh I know! We could have hiked more at Windy Point. Um…but yeah, I enjoyed working with the group and not just making a poster on my own. Any other questions?
Int1: Yes, how is this experience different from other experiences you’ve had with your school?
JH: With this school? It was a lot longer, which made it quite a bit more fun. Um…and um, I don’t know, it was like the first overnight trip that wasn’t a camping trip, but yeah, I enjoyed eating meat. That was nice! No more vegetable bread sandwich for lunch.
Int1: I have one more question for you. How was rooming with other people? How did that affect your mood?
JH: Um, I don’t know, I think it made the experience a lot more fun. I wouldn’t want to just be staying in a, I don’t know, a one-person room. I don’t know, it was nice to be with best friends I guess. Socializing, you know…
Int2: If you had known before hand, C, your rooming assignments would you have changed them?
C: You mean the standards of people I had to sleep with? I would have wanted a bigger room, Wi-Fi, I don’t know. I didn’t really care who I had to sleep with honestly.
Int2: Which stopping point did you like the best?
C: Windy Point, except I wasn’t allowed to do anything. I wasn’t allowed to climb. I wasn’t allowed to put myself in danger. I wasn’t allowed to run around like a wild child. It was a real bummer.
Int2: How about the food? I’ve heard it was good, did you like it?
C: I wish I had brought more snacks. I get hungry. A lot.
Int2: Do you think your research topic is interesting?
C: Personally, I’ve never been interested in Earth Sciences but I guess it was cool. I got to see the inside of a tree without chopping it down. It looked like a vanilla wafer thing. And my group was definitely the coolest. Our instructor ROCKED.
Int1: Alright, T, did you enjoy the camping and the rooming with people?
T: Yes! I especially enjoyed my instructor Shelby.
Int1: T, what did you like about your instructor and would you ask for her to be you instructor again?
T: She was nice, and yes I would like her to be my instructor again.
Int2: She made ‘kind of’ funny jokes. I don’t often say that people make the best jokes. Even my dad makes bad jokes.
Int1: T, one more question. Would you ever do something like this again?
T: Yes, because it was very fun and we got to go in the forest. I don’t really like being out that much, just sometimes, but this was pretty cool.
Int3: K, what was your favorite part of the trip?
K: Um, I think my favorite part was the predator/prey, the hiking, and my instructor Shelby. Um, the research project was good, but I felt like we needed to be outdoors more. It was nice to look at nature and experience it. I go outside with sports.
S: There’s nothing I really hated about the trip but I kind of disliked the ride up here because I get carsick and wanna barf, but the view was nice. And I would have loved a bigger dorm room because I roll around a lot and talk in my sleep and I almost rolled off my bunk. Everything was falling off…my blanket, my pillow, my jacket, my leg, part of my arm, my ear! I just want to party in my room.
Int3: If you were to do this again, what would you do differently?
K: Probably go to more places on the mountain, or spend more time on different places like Summer Haven. Probably go into the observatory more often. And maybe go outside and look at the view again at night and try to find Big Foot. My instructors said they didn’t see him, but I know he’s out there…
S: As much as I agree with K, I still would like to add some things. I think we should spend more time outdoors. It would be more fun if we could just move in up here and do a bunch of projects. Like spend years up here. And delay the schedule because I hate nights, Big Foot scares me, and I think I can avoid him in the mornings.