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Michigan fre CoHeoe Press Service Kalamazoo, Mich. ? Margaret Skwira was hungry, grimy, exhausted and cold. It had been three weeks since she had talked on the telephone, taken a hot shower or slept on a mattress. For the past two days, her only companions had been a jug of water, a journal and an occasional passing deer. Yet far from feeling lonely or desperate, Skwira was serene and content, she recalls, as she rolled ud her sleeriincr bacr and headed back to camp to join her fellow classmates. After all, she had just made it through her freshman orientation. While most students wouldn't consider orientation to be either'a personal accomplishment or a highlight of their college experience, students at Michigan's Kalamazoo College could be the exception. Since 1975, Kalamazoo College has offered the "Land/Sea" program for entering students, an optional outdoor orientation that includes hiking, rock climbing, canoeing and sailing. Modeled after Outward Bound, the orientation enables first-year students to experience the trials and triumphs associated with three weeks of roughing it in the Michigan and Canadian woods. Kalamazoo College administrators admit that having students fend for themselves in the remote wilderness is a unique way to prepare students for college life. But they say the "Land/Sea" program offers incoming freshmen the chance to form close bonds with a diverse set of students while encouraging indi Tiuuai i oopuiioiuini/jr anu pi uuicm ouiving. The idea is to offer a support group to the student coming out of high school," says Tom Breznau, the program coordinator. "If s an incredible physical and emotional challenge, so it automatically builds a network of friends and supporters who are not only on the trip together but will be attending school together as well." This year, Breznau will be taking 60 incoming Students on the trip, along with 15 current Kalamazoo students who will serve as group leaders. The leaders are people who have experienced the liand/Sea' option themselves and are excited to have a chance to help others with it," says Breznau. "For someone to come hark and bain on a trin that pan ha on intanaa is a reflection of how productive this program Smoke, [ wh; knc out Get your "Pu Poor Richari The Uirt 4 punches at Poor F 2 punches 1 free 733 Santee Avenue shmen get Svil "I always loved the outdoors. I figured It would be something kind of new and Intimidating. As long as I was In the mode of going away to school, I figured I'd try something new." Michigan freshman Margaret Skwira can be." Arrortiincr tn Rro7rian tVio afnrlartta moof at Kalamazoo on a Friday evening, then take a bus 650 miles north to Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario, where they divide into groups of 15 and meet with group leaders. The park encompasses more than 84,000 acres and is home to many species of wildlife, including deer, owl, porcupine, fox, hawk, otter, beaver and blue heron. At the orientation site, pine-covered hills surround pristine lakes and rivers. "If s breath-taking," says Breznau. "When the students first get a glimpse at the area, their faces light up." As stunning as the environment is, it can be strewn with difficulties for the novice outdoorsmen. So, Kalamazoo officials make sure that the leaders of each group have spent sufficient time training for any potential acci dent, from the mildest to the most severe. So far, there haven't been any problems on the trips, adds Breznau. Students who sign up for the "Land/Sea" option are told to get in shape for the session, especially those "that have led a rather sedentary life during the summer," according to the "Land/Sea" handbook. Participants are asked to prepare for canoeing and climbing with pushups and pull-ups and are instructed to jog with their hiking boots on to prepare for the intense climbs ahead of them. To prepare for the various lakes and rivers, students are told to be prepared to stay afloat in water for at least 30 minutes. The first 17 days of the orientation are spent experiencing all the the Canadian wilderness has to offer. Instructed to bring only the essentials, the groups embark with just the bare necessities. "They have their gear, < ouiiic nioti ouiiic IUUU aiiu a uig iai p ) for the 15 of them to sleep under at night," 1 says Breznau. "We give them just the basics." i )ie. It's the \l A ? )CK-i | Actually it's th # that'll g | Jjfe right b< the ey< KlXS ?et p" nch Me!" meal cai -J?C MAHtAHHaU .lot Mi w} iviwilb^l VJ mown Coffee Sho iichard's + 4 punches at Monteri at The Unknown Coffee Shop = meal or desser elm 620 Harden Street Devin rniwuuuii.immm "V^pd' orientation I have to take what? Nursing sophomore Mark Lee consults Th Students spend six days sailing on a brig antine across the Great Lakes and Georgian Bay, five days canoeing on the park's inland waters and four days hiking and climbing. On the final two days of the trip, students participate in "solos," where they are separated, given water and spread out around a lake. "We encourage them not to take anything with them but a journal," says Breznau. "Ifs a great way for students to get in touch with their basic feelings and to reflect on the past two weeks." For those who go on the trip, the experience pays off. "It could be called a vacation, but not a relaxing one, where you sit on the beach all day and vegetate," says Kalamazoo jtudent Darrell Jones, who went on the it simple. I I jj jjjj J jljjj e card let you ?tween Some 'meen dorm js! Get I stude ard and |;ogd boug] inched I carpe free arr7 and s ? make *d from ik's or 'S i / rey jocks + oo m <3 t I J S ft mknou'n coffee shop ^ift e Street, next to Yesterday's fflil.THIMM yiffef'*"*' - v' aiSk f ? alia Deaver from the register's office at the C< "Land/Sea" in 1991. "It's a vacation away from S the normalities of our world today. Ifs a time ol to explore unseen beauties of our world and "1 also in yourself." u Melissa Fry agrees. "I have learned more in aboufmyself in the past two weeks than I g< ever knew existed," she wrote in her journal th on the final day of her "LandTSea" orientation in 1993. "Most of all, I leave this trip with a tii new attitude towards the challenges that I ai may face in my future. This is a beautiful "I world, and I look forward to more adventures, re not with fear, but with excitement and en- of thusiasm for the unknown." to Skwira first went on the "Land/Sea" ori- & entation option in 1991. While most students ge opted for the school's normal orientation,- yo Please stop Make yoi Q 1 1 'WV1I1 ll'l'l 1 IP jllKt.?{ J ; sqi times it's hard to make those rooms seem like home on a nt's budget. Thaf s why ill Carpet Mill Outlet has ht special truckloads of t remnants* in a wide of colors, sizes tyles. We can also custom area rugs. L?-iUurdSL___\. Efi 3TOT 9'x 12' (] PF <r^l2' x 12' (] ^"12' x 15' (J ^NO rt'imi IB excludes ^ ^ g sales 1|Sf|ll " Green St. ^^iff Russell %g ollseum House Blossom sl Many < *murn )gdi(( Carpet mpetition says you can trust them, ou I 1700 Huger Street, Colt HOURS: Monday - Satu y w' :-.C;Jif?M ; 7 Him Tm?tt The Gameonrk aliseum Wednesday. kwira decided she was up for the challenge F spending three weeks in a natural habitat, always loved the outdoors," she says. "I figred it would be something kind of new and itimidating. As long as I was in the mode of )ing away to school, I figured I'd try somering new." Skwira, like most other "Land/Sea" par:ipants, found the experience well worth it id had been back as a group leader twice, lie trip really builds independence and selfliance," she says. "It was an invaluable part my college education because it pushed me do something I never thought I could cfo. /eryone needs to count on everyone else to t through. 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