BONNIE RICORD, 2013 WILDERNESS RANGER FELLOW

This article was first published in the Missoulian July 11, 2014 and was submitted to help mark the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

What comes to your mind when you think about college? Did your experience include large lecture halls, dining hall food, pulling all-nighters to prep for exams, or maybe one too many nights of partying? When you think of your college-aged self, what would you tell them?

Well, since I’m 21, I don’t have the advantage of having quite the distance or life experience away from my university years to give myself advice – heck, I’m still in the thick of navigating class registration, renting my first apartment, and learning how to balance my social and academic commitments and interests. Like many a college kid, I’ve spent time wondering whether or not I am in the right major, and how there can never quite be enough time in the day to go to class, do homework, visit with friends, exercise, find jobs and internships, and manage to keep my clothes in a closet rather than strewn across the floor (from what I’ve heard, the concept of time just gets shorter and shorter with age). READ MORE