When opportunity knocks, I answer!

Just one week after walking across the graduation stage, I found myself on a plane to Southern California with a group of 10 students and three professors from the Environmental, Geographical and Geological Sciences (EGGS) department.

My task was to follow them as a photographer and journalist for their 13-day field study through the coast, mountains and deserts of California. It turned out to be the opportunity of a lifetime for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Every college student seems to have this notion of wanting to travel the world — either to study abroad, for their career, or enjoyment after they retire. I believe it's become a part of our "fear of missing out." However, my career path of journalism has allowed me to truly be able to travel anywhere for my job and when opportunity knocks, I answer!

I learned quite a bit about geology while on the EGGS 330 trip, however I didn’t exactly have the background knowledge to put it into words until I spent some time with the professors and students. There were plenty of analogies made that had nothing to do with geology in order for me to understand the topics, but after a few days I started to pick up the geology jargon.

• Billy Basalt is born
• New perspective on a familiar adventure

Other than the geology class part of the trip, camping was our largest challenge in EGGS 330. We stayed in a variety of campgrounds, and the weather was not exactly characteristic of Southern California. It rained the first five nights straight and it was cooler than usual, which turned out to be a challenge for all of us. After all, we packed for the desert.

Some people on the trip had never camped before, and most of us had never camped for more than a long weekend. Setting up tents and sleeping in sleeping bags with the bathrooms and showers more than a football field away at some campgrounds was very foreign to us. The amount of adaptation we had to undergo as a group was incredible.

We began on the coast at San Mateo campground, then made our way into the mountains at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park where we were supposed to stay for two nights. Then the storm hit. We only stayed for one night because of the plunging temperatures and horizontal rain (not kidding) and made our way into the Anza-Borrego desert, where it also rained.

However, most everyone on the trip can agree that Anza-Borrego was our favorite campground, and where we all got the best sleep. We also saw a rainbow in the desert, which isn’t something you see every day!

Joshua Tree National Park was next. With no cell reception or electricity, it made for great conversation and a beautiful view of the stars.

However, there were also no showers in Joshua Tree, or at Cottonwood Campground, which was our final campsite. For five days, none of us showered. Remember that adaptability I was talking about? This was one of those times. Baby wipes and spigot showers is all I have to say about that.

Overall, EGGS 330 is an incredible experience for anyone thinking of geology as a career path. Or in my case, photojournalism! It taught all 14 of us how to adapt to our situations and surroundings, it taught students how to work in the field and take good field notes, and it taught me how to document it all in a way that non-majors can understand what was going on.

I want to personally thank Dr. Cynthia Venn, Dr. Jennifer Whisner, and Dr. John Hintz for having me along on the trip, as well as all the students who put up with me taking their photos and asking them geology questions nonstop. It was an amazing trip, and I hope it will continue to be a class for years to come.

— Dallas Kriebel '19, mass communications graduate, shadowed ... #EGGS #HuskyUnleashed #HuskySummer

If I knew then what I know now

Dear High School Jenna,

Hey, it’s me! Well you, four years from now. I know you think college graduation is so far away, but let me tell you … it will be here in a blink of an eye. I know, because that’s exactly how I felt at this time four years ago. And here we are, Jenna. Days away from graduating college, and I never thought this day would come this soon. I still clearly remember being anxious to graduate high school. And yet, again with the butterflies of wondering what’s next in store. No worries. It’s going to be okay. I know, because I’ve made it this far.

Jenna, Bloomsburg University was a great choice

You’re going to have many college choices; but in the end, you’ll select Bloomsburg University. It will be a great decision. This town will truly become a second home. Do yourself a favor though and explore more your freshman year.

Do not wait until junior year to finally go to the Bloomsburg Diner to eat the amazing omelets you love so much and try out Fog and Flame, because they really know how to make those fancy Instagram worthy drinks you always wanted to try. Get more involved freshman year, please don’t wait. I know right now you’re busy with choir, cheerleading, numerous clubs and just want a little break, but you’ll realize real-fast you enjoy being involved and will wish you did more once you reach senior year. Trust me.

And, oh yea … learn all you can from your internship and work-study position with the university’s Office of Marketing and Communications from Tom McGuire and Jaime North, because this will help you discover that you want to work in higher education after graduation.

Jenna, don’t stop making friends

So you’ll realize fast you truly don’t know anyone in college, but you’ll meet so many amazing people as time goes by. Freshman year, leave your door open and meet the people on your floor! I wish more people would have done this sooner, because you’ll meet great people. Like the guys across the hall, who were always nice enough to let my roommate Kaitlyn and I borrow their vacuum, or the girls who lived down the hall, Dannah and Hannah, who will eventually become your roommates. Know that everyone you meet and become friends with will help you in some way and change you for the better.

In class, talk to the people around you and get to know them, you never know when you are going to need a study partner or you might even find one of your closest friends, like Sidney, who you actually end up going on a cruise with. Speaking of the cruise. Go on it! At first you will think it is too much money, but in the end you will be sitting on a beach in the Bahamas so thankful that you went.

Go to Haas Center of the Arts and audition for the Bloomsburg University Choir, because we know how much you like to sing and you will miss it dearly when you no longer do. Go to the activities fair and find an organization called Alpha Phi Omega. This is where you will find “your people.” Alpha Phi Omega is where I found some of my very best friends in college like my senior year roommates, Alicia and Aleigha, plus my big and little, Rachel and Carly, and how I really was able to get involved on campus.

Jenna, balance is key

Okay so you know how you told yourself you were going to go to the gym like every day in college and get in shape? Well freshman year you did, but then you got busy with school and barely had time to devote as much time to it as you used to. Make the time because you’ll be less stressed and honestly it will become the “me time” you need each day. Do not get into the habit of procrastinating. I know things come up that sound like better alternatives to studying, but when you see Summa Cum Laude written on your graduation packet you will feel really accomplished and it will all be worth it, trust me (you know you want the honors cords too).

Go to trivia night, why I waited till senior year is beyond me. It’s basically like Jeopardy, but you actually win a prize. Get a job. Working during the summer all the time is not fun, but you are going to need and want the money. College is expensive. I wish I would have worked during the semester earlier because senior year I did, at your favorite restaurant actually, Marley’s, hosting and serving. Not gonna lie, it was rough to balance everything, but having money makes it worth it.

Jenna, calm down. You made it!

You stress too much about the little things. Like your chemistry class the very first semester of college year where you got your first C, but guess what you studied hard and ended the class with an A-. Then there is economics, which will become your minor, these classes will challenge you but we know you like to be challenged. There is the fear you will not graduate on time, but girl you are graduating a semester early because of those AP classes you are in right now. Soon final exams will be over and I will graduate, then I’m off the real world. You made it Jenna! Take a deep breath and enjoy your next few years, because they’ll be some of the best years of your life. Trust me.

Sincerely,
     Jenna Fuller, Bloomsburg University Class of 2018

Dwarfed by the beauty of the natural world

After 10 days in the field, we had our first day off from digging and had an opportunity to venture to a different part of Ohio. We packed up some hiking gear, plenty of trail mix and piled into the vans to see Ash Cave and Old Man’s Cave in Hocking Hills State Park.

It was refreshing to see the forests and waterfalls, a stark contrast to the open fields and hot sun that we’d grown accustom to. At Ash Cave, there were audible gasps of amazement as we wandered into the immense rock shelter. It was shocking to see something so large and beautiful. For eons, water and wind carved the soft rock and left this 700-foot-long cave.

The human influence, little trails and names carved into the stone walls, were dwarfed by the beauty of the natural world. It was strangely freeing to feel so small in the shadow of that cave. I realized that if I’m so tiny in the grand scheme, my worries are even smaller and it felt like a burden was lifted.

That carefree feeling set the tone for the rest of the day as we explored more of the park land. We ventured to Old Man’s Cave, which proved to be an excellent hiking and climbing spot. We spent the day clambering over rocks and wading through streams.

As the entire field school group stood knee-deep in a plunge pool and skipped rocks into a waterfall, I forgot that we had just met each other a mere two weeks ago. Laughter and jokes rang out across the water, and we all agreed that the hiking trip was exactly what we needed to recharge. We snapped plenty of pictures and were pleasantly exhausted by the end of the afternoon.

I returned to camp ready to dig again the following day, hoping that some cool artifacts would surface from the new units we had opened.

— Keelan McDonald, is a junior mass communications major and anthropology minor.

#CollaborativeLearning #HuskyUnleashed

DeeAnne Wymer, professor of anthropology, and a group of Bloomsburg University students hit the road each spring in mid-May to spend four weeks in southern Ohio digging at a Hopewell habitation site. The archeological field school experience enables student teams to rely on new imaging technologies to uncover another living site of the Mound Builders from 2,000 years ago.

What lies beneath!

When we first arrived at the Balthaser Home site in Ohio, it looked like any other farm field, the remains of soybean stubble covering the rolling hills. Now, the field is covered with tripods and sifters and tarps and shovels.

From the road, it’s nearly impossible to tell what is occurring in the southwest corner of Balthaser. What are we doing here? Spearheaded by Dr. DeeAnne Wymer and Dr. Paul Pacheco of SUNY-Geneseo, students from Bloomsburg and SUNY Geneseo are collaborating to dig up the remains of a domestic Hopewell site. The Hopewell are an indigenous American people known for their earthworks and ritual sites, but little is known about their daily lives.

Out in the hot sun, we dig and sift. Occasionally, someone will yell out “bladelet” when they find a small, thin flint blade, still sharp enough to cut your fingers 2,000 years later, and Doc Wymer does her famous bladelet dance.

The best part of field school is the shared enthusiasm among the students, professors and the occasional amateur archaeologist visitor. You’ve never seen a group of people so excited about different colors of dirt. Students are broken into different teams composed of Geneseo and Bloomsburg students to excavate specific unit. Because of the generosity of Dr. Jarrod Burks, we are able to have a sense of where to dig based on the magnetic readings at the site.

My team is in the process of excavating a pit feature, which is very exciting because we have no idea what we may find.

(DeeAnne Wymer) - I am pleased to note that Keelan's team recovered a large number of very large fragments of pottery from their fire pit/earth oven! All their hard work paid off and they have every right to be very excited.

Some groups are meticulously excavating post molds, which may indicate the location of a Hopewell house, while others find projectile points, ceramics and paper-thin sheets of glittering mica. Centimeter by centimeter, we begin to get a clearer picture of the ancient lifeways of the fascinating Hopewell.

— Keelan McDonald, is a junior mass communications major and anthropology minor.

#CollaborativeLearning #HuskyUnleashed

DeeAnne Wymer, professor of anthropology, and a group of Bloomsburg University students hit the road each spring in mid-May to spend four weeks in southern Ohio digging at a Hopewell habitation site. The archeological field school experience enables student teams to rely on new imaging technologies to uncover another living site of the Mound Builders from 2,000 years ago.