From January 6th to January 9th I was stationed in a barn known as Mensch Mills. This was "Boot Camp". The barn was not as rustic as it sounds (no hay or lofts or sharing space with horses and cows), rather it was a barn that had been fixed up. There was a small kitchen nook within the first floor living room (which took up the entire first floor). Stairs leading up to the two bedrooms of bunk beds were located in the middle of the first floor like an island, creating a wall upon which powerpoints were projected. There was another staircase leading to the basement where there were consistently frigged bathrooms. But it wasn't all glamor, we had no reception or internet. In many ways, we were more cut off from home than we are now! The stage was set for the Dawleys to wreak havoc!

Our schedule was regimented down to the minute (doing justice to its title "Boot Camp"). Every morning we awoke at 7 and had 15 minutes to adjust to the day. We were then allowed to eat breakfast for 45 minutes. From 8 to 12:30 we worked on our species projects (with a half hour break at 10:00). We indulged in a half hour lunch at 12:30 but dove back into work at 1:00 with the dreaded taxonomy book! From 1:00 to 3:00 we studied taxonomies (birds, mammals, anthropods, reptiles, and amphibians) from order to family to even species in some cases.

At 3:00 He-Dawley led a hike in the hilly, snowy backdrop of Mensch Mills. These hikes were eventful with traversing an icy river, avoiding being shot by deer hunters, and walking across an ice-covered lake. One day, while escaping the line of fire of a hunter, we just walked along the road for an hour. Robert constantly took pictures and often made us redo something (climb a giant boulder, walk across a bridge, etc...) multiple times in order to get that perfect shot.

After the hike our schedule from day to day was a bit hazy. Sometimes nap time was declared and we all napped thusly. Other days we had an hour of studying before our taxonomy quiz (every day we were quizzed on the taxonomies we had just learned - memorizing the taxonomies was required). After our quiz we had dinner; either pizza or Chinese food. The Chinese food dinner was a feast of champions and everyone gorged.

The rest of the evening was used for a reading assignment or watching documentaries/movies and presenting the power points of our lives. Unfortunately I had forgotten to make one, so on the first night I did a live-action version of my live thus far. I wouldn't say it was a show-stopper but I did use props. Too bad I didn't have my childhood picture of me sporting the mullet pig-tail look; now that would have gotten people talking! Fashion statement for the future - booyah!

When it was all said and done, the Dawley's graciously allowed us one hour of free time from 10:00 to 11:00 with which we could shower or do whatever. But lights out at 11:00; no questions asked (not that anyone ever protested, sleep was welcomed after each busy day).

This is how my Boot Camp days were spent. It gave us plenty of reason to get excited for Mexico though!