Submitted by Natalie Brennan (Franklin and Marshall)
I applied to the Glacier National Park REU not knowing what to fully expect and I’m so glad that I did. What I really loved about this trip is how much I learned about myself through things I did and experienced. My interactions with nature were nothing like I had ever had before. I had never seen real flower fields not purposefully planted by humans. I also discovered a fly that I thought was a bee for the first half of my time in the park. This guy became known as Francis and it was always fun when one of these bee-looking insects visited us along the trail – there were so many of them that they were unavoidable. I had never seen a moose before, but in these two weeks in the field I saw one almost every day. I saw bears less frequently, but it was still my first time witnessing such large animals in person rather than through a camera lens.
Interacting with people in this natural setting was such a great learning experience and was, in general, joyful. I met couples on vacation, photographers, and even other scientists! One of the team’s most memorable interactions was on a long walk back from coring at Redrock Lake, carrying our kayak paddles and pumps for the watercrafts. At least five different groups commented on our carrying of paddles along the trail without a boat in sight, but one of them was truly different – a young man passed by saying, “paddles” with a look that seemed zoned out. That was it, and that small, pretty meaningless interaction stuck in our memories enough to come up in conversation pretty much every day in the field after that.
Out in GNP, I missed listening to music a lot. I could sometimes, but not frequently. One day I woke up a little later than usual and walked out of my tent to see everybody eating breakfast at our picnic table singing “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell. Nobody knew the lyrics except for Kelly, our professor. A new friend of mine and I became so determined to learn these lyrics that we wrote them down in a notebook so we could practice reciting the song. We wrote this at the picnic table where everyone gathered and we all just chatted and existed with each other – it was lovely to be able to spend time with people in this setting. I truly could not have understood how special it was getting to know new people while off the grid until I did it. My time in Montana has been truly unforgettable.
