冠O ' conner; Pursuing Her Dream in the Wildest Classroom
冠O ' conner | 自然资源学院
Christa O'Connor talks about her path in higher education, and how her education is preparing her for a myriad of career opportunities.
“我在东部长大, I thought 爱达荷州 was nothing more than the Potato State, 但接下来就是:2.3 million-acre Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the heart of 爱达荷州,12岁的克里斯塔·奥康纳说, about chasing her dream of pursuing a wilderness internship at Taylor Wilderness 研究 Station. “这是命运的安排, I was one of the three students from the 自然资源学院 to be awarded a Bleak Taylor Ranch Wilderness Internship and spend 10 weeks in the second largest wilderness in the contiguous United States."
Before coming to Taylor and conducting an extensive collection of the plants inhabiting the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, O’Conner really never envisioned herself even getting her bachelor’s degree.
Through the generosity of donors such as Clara Bleak and the DeVlieg Foundation, O’Conner was able to discover that she wants to devote her life to studying plants and is more capable of accomplishing things than she thought.
“I truly believe that the most valuable education comes in the form of ‘hands-on,’ and that is just what professors at Taylor provided: Experiential education in the wildest classroom,奥康纳说. “To recollect the experience now, I am filled with the deepest gratitude. If it had not been for the graciousness of Clara Bleak, I would not have been able to travel to such a revered land to undergo both growth of mind and spirit.”
黯淡的46, a philanthropist from Bloomington, 明尼苏达州, has generously supported the university and CNR since 1977. 在那段时间里, she has created two endowments to benefit wilderness research and environmental education and established a $1 million bequest to benefit the University of 爱达荷州 and the 自然资源学院’ wilderness and environmental education programs. She also initiated the development of the 麦考尔户外科学学校.
“Environmental and wilderness education has been a consistent theme throughout my life,” says Bleak. “在普雷斯顿长大, 爱达荷州, my interests in nature were encouraged early on by my grandmother, who taught me how to make ceramics out of the local shale and weave baskets out of the marsh reeds.”
Bleak and her late husband Ralph shared a strong passion in environmental education and together they have ensured the outdoors will always be a part of the University of 爱达荷州.
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