Meet David Geddes Foley Graduate Fellowship Alumnus
We had the good fortune of connecting with David Geddes Foley Graduate Fellowship Alumnus and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi David Geddes, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
In my graduate fellowship at Walking Mountains, the line between work, school, and play was pretty blurry. I worked 40 hours as an educator leading field trips and summer camps for K-8 students, and my graduate coursework, on paper, is separate from that. In reality, the experience was a mesh
-work in which what I learned in class informed my teaching practice, and what I learned from my day-to-day teaching informed my class discussions and assignments. Then of course you I lived onsite with the same people I worked and studied with. We commiserated about work and assignments and explored the mountains in our off-time. The people I was surrounded by shaped me, in my opinion, even more than teaching or studying.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve always loved being outside. When I was 16, I spent a summer as a camp counselor. I found helping kids to experience, appreciate, and understand the natural world to be incredibly rewarding. I continued working at summer camps throughout high school and college and wondered if outdoor/environmental education could really be a full time career. I certainly never thought I’d go to grad school, but when I found this program on a job board, I knew right away this was the experience I was looking for to take my skills as an educator to the next level. Over the 15-months of the Fellowship, I learned that there are many different philosophies and approaches in environmental education. I believe that helping people to connect with nature has equal value for academic learning (I.e., standards-based science content), social-emotional learning (I.e. promoting confidence and social interaction through often-challenging outdoor experiences) and of course spiritually. In a world that is becoming more and more cynical, showing people that the world is bigger and more beautiful than their office or classroom is especially important. I see my role as an environmental educator as the best contribution I can make to creating a fairer, kinder, and more sustainable world.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Eagle County was a crazy place to attend grad school. There is a pretty severe lack of affordable housing, so having on-site employee houses was incredible. They were also the nicest buildings I’ve ever lived in. We got free local ski passes through the program, and I learned how to ski from my mentor, a grad fellow in the year above me. They basically gave me a bunch of free 8-hour lessons, and I took to it pretty hard. If a friend were to visit in the Winter and they were a skier (who had enough disposable income for a ski passes), I’d certainly take them to Vail and Beaver Creek. I hate driving, but the Gondola from Avon to Beaver Creek was only a 15 minute walk from my house, and the bus stop to Vail was only 12 minutes. I used my car almost exclusively to buy groceries at Walmart. Another great activity is skating on Nottingham Lake in Avon. If it were the summer, I’d take them biking, another sport I got way too interested in while living in the mountains. I prefer road biking, but mountain biking is cool too. One of my favorite rides is up to the top of Vail Pass and down to Breckenridge, 100 miles round trip. Rocky Mountain Taco, specifically the location inside Vail Brewing Company, is my go-to spot after burning a bunch of calories.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Walking Mountains Youth Programs leadership team. I have never felt so supported in a work place. They somehow juggle being supervisors and professors, and are some of the most hard-working and compassionate people I’ve ever met. Countless people, not just alumni of the graduate program but also the youth of Eagle County, have benefitted from their dedication.
Other: David.geddes.jr@gmail.com
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