The Story Of My Dream - Part Three
January 30, 2008 | In About |
Table of contents for Life Story
- The Story Of My Dream - Part One
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Two
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Three
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Four
- The Story Of My Dream - Part Five
Finishing Up High School
Before I graduated from High School, I did my final project for 12th grade physics on mast stress during different wind conditions on a boat under full sail. I built a scale model of the Lady Maryland (with a flat hull since I only needed to test the sails) to do my testing on. I acquired a copy of the actual blueprints for the ship from the Living Classrooms Foundation, who owns her.
Striped Bass a.k.a. Rockfish
I was still sure I wanted to teach and help others after the hundreds of volunteer hours I’d done. I was also sure that I wanted to do something with conservation, and I wrote several papers on that topic. I wrote about the ban on fishing Striped Bass otherwise known as Rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay and I wrote about the last 30 years of conservation in America.
I decided I wanted to pursue a biology degree and began looking around for a college. When I visited St. Mary’s College of Maryland, I fell in love. The college is situated on a river and has a top notch sailing team (they compete against the United States Navel Academy.) Their biology department is also first class. This seemed like the perfect fit for me. I submitted my application, along with an essay which included reference to - you guessed it - the Lady Maryland. I applied and was accepted.
Photo of The Garden of Remembrance at St. Mary’s College of
Maryland by E. Stewart, student at St. Mary’s
Finally, to round out my teaching/conservation/animal experiences in High School, I was a member of National Honors Society for 3 years (all years I was eligible), I took an elective course on Animal Behavior, and a attended a marine biology summer course at Wallops Island, Virginia. I had established a relationship with the folks at the Living Classrooms Foundation, both their land based, and their ship based staff. As I prepared for college and a new period in my life, I was sure what I wanted to do.
The College Years
I did indeed attend St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology. However, it was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life. College was a big turning point for me and a huge learning experience, although the vast majority of what I learned I didn’t learn in the classroom.
I started college with high hopes. I had a general map of my life: graduate with bio degree, work for Living Classrooms, and possibly also work for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation doing a similar position (teaching on a boat while out on the Bay.) I hoped to sail on the Pride of Baltimore as well. I wasn’t sure where marriage and kids fit in, but I figured that after the shipboard years, I could work on the land based programs to have a more regular schedule (plus I could get an apartment on land instead of living on the ship.)
I signed up for General Chemistry I, Principles of Biology I, Calculus I, and History I. My first semester, academically, was awful. I dropped Calculus, got a C in History, and failed both Biology and Chemistry. Not a good start at all for a biology major!
Photo of St. Mary’s College Dinghys
courtesy of St. Mary’s College of Maryland
On the sailing front, I joined the offshore sailing team because they used larger boats instead of two man dinghys, which was what I was more used to. I went out to practice twice and did not enjoy the experience. I was coming from a sailing background of tall ships. You put the sails up in the morning and took them down at night when you put down anchor. Alternatively, you could sail through the night and not take the sails down for days. Not so when you race a sailboat. On the contrary, the sails get put up and get taken down multiple times in an hour practice session. In addition, I ended up in the stern (back) of the boat, cranking on a winch that controlled some of the lines to the mast. I was on one side, and another girl was on the other side. Between the two of us, we were cranking on those winches for almost the entire hour. I didn’t have time to look at anything else, not the sails coming up and down, or the water passing under the boat. Just the winch. After two trips out, and with my grades slipping, I quit the offshore sailing team.
The Internship
Going home for the semester break over Christmas/New Year, I was doing the proverbial licking of my wounds. I went to visit my roommate over the break and while I was there, I got the news that I had been asked to participate in the first year internship program with the Living Classrooms Foundation. I was ecstatic. I would finally get the chance to do what I had been dreaming of doing for the past three years.
The following summer I joined them as an intern. For the most part, I was an educator on the day long shipboard activities. I went out on the Lady Maryland, as well as other historic ships the Foundation owns. I was having a good time and learning about teaching kids.
After the programs for the day were over, I usually had an hour or so to kill before I could be picked up for the day. Sometimes I would help out in the office, but often I would help out the crew of the Lady Maryland, doing cleaning and repairing type stuff. At one point, I even helped the crew to repaint the hull.
When it came time for the Lady Maryland to leave Baltimore for her annual trip up the East Coast, I was asked if I wanted to go with them. I jumped at the chance. Although I wish I could say that I had a blast, a repeat of my previous two week long trips, I would be lying. I got seasick on the Delaware Bay and had a rocky relationship with the ship’s cook.
The day after I returned to Baltimore, my bosses asked me to come in to the office to talk. That day they told me it wasn’t working out and I was asked to leave the internship program.
In retrospect, I was probably caught in a power struggle between the education department of the Foundation, and the folks on the crew of the Lady Maryland. I loved that ship and I loved sailing on her. That love got me the job, and unfortunately, that love also lost me the job. I asked if there had been an issue with my interactions with the kids and they said no. They said there was a problem with me getting along with my co-workers. To this day, almost 13 years later, I still don’t understand that comment. These two were my friends - and my coworkers. The only one I hadn’t gotten along with was the cook, but I was the one who was let go.
This experience was extremely painful for me and it still hurts to think about it. It led me to doubt my ability to get along with others and my ability to trust others. It also killed my dream of being a sail trainer. Even today it hurts to hear about the Foundation, the people in it, and the programs they run. It was the close of a very long chapter in my life.
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