The Benefits of a General Education

The Benefits of a General Education

Weeks ago when I first entered school here at the University of Colorado at Boulder, an interviewer asked me, “What did you study in your first college degree?”  I responded by saying a little of everything from engineering technology, to business, to economics, to the biological sciences, to social sciences including psychology & anthropology, and even some history and philosophy.  I received a general studies degree from the University of Southern Indiana in 2012.  The interviewer said something along the lines, “Oh, so you’re a General Specialist”.  After slight hesitation, I said something like, “..Yes, I suppose that I am.”  And so the term, and the idea have stuck with me over the past few months.  And over this period of time, I have on numerous occasions been very glad to state that I am a General Specialist.  On some occasions, I have stated I am a General Specialist going back to seek a second bachelor’s degree in Geography (one of the most interdisciplinary majors out there), with a specialization in GIS (Geographic Information Science). 

I can’t begin to tell you all of the times in class, or in social groups, or in academic groups general knowledge and general skills have been beneficial.  In my international development course, there have been lectures concerning aspects of sustainable development (oh yeah I know a bit about that, I read Jeffery Sachs book a few years ago), or microfinance (oh yeah I know a bit about that I wrote a paper four years ago about microfinance, and I’ve read a few books by the Nobel Prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus), or we’ve had a lecture looking at historical concepts of development (oh yeah I’m familiar with the problems/issues of development and their effect on first peoples).  Or maybe I am sitting there in my environmental hazards course and we’re talking about cost/benefit analysis and whether or not it’s worth it (from an economic perspective) to buy a snow blower.  Again it’s like “oh yeah, I’ve done something like that before in microeconomics and again in cost/benefit analysis.  Another one, I might be sitting there in cartography class and we’re talking about RGB and CMYK color systems and I’m like (“Yeah I know about those, I use those to edit landscape photos from my DSLR camera.”)  Or (same class), we’re talking about binding labels to a curve (“Yeah I did that in CAD design class), or data file management (Yeah sure I’ve done that before in information management).  So my point is, it’s all important.  All of those bits of knowledge allow me to be the guy in the back of a room full of engineers that know nothing about some topic (while being experts in a certain skill set), that pipes up every once in awhile to lend a different perspective to a conversation.  I guess I’m a leader on occasion from the back of the room.

All of those core classes that most people dislike, well those are important (I just happen to have had 146 credit hours of those courses!)  So, I can have a conversation with a mathematician and understand to a moderate level what they’re talking about.  I can talk to an engineer and understand flow charts, and 2D or 3D AutoCAD models, and basics of the design process, and a little something about circuitry and voltage, and physics, and math, and technical writing and on and on...  And then there’s some of the social groups I’m involved with..  For example a progressive Christian ministry accepting to GLBTQ folks, all other religions, atheists, agnostics, scientists, even conservative Christians..  “We’ll hey I can relate to most of those groups because maybe I’ve identified with one or of them at a certain point in my life, or at least I’ve had a long conversation with someone identifying with most of those groups.”  “Hey!  I can relate to what you’re saying.  I’m open minded, I’m here to listen!”. 

           Or maybe it’s lending my skills or knowledge to a group like Engineers Without Borders (EWB).  So I was at a meeting today, and the group was trying to come focus on sustainability of a water system in Nepal.  “Well it’s important that we understand what the people want, and not just what we want to give them.  Let’s create a set of survey questions.  Let’s understand the culture.  What materials do they have access to, and what skill sets do they have, and what cultural traditions do we need to respect/understand as outsiders?...”.  Later in the meeting, “How do we organize/deal with all of these hundreds of pages of documentation?..”  My response, “Oh well I used to work for the census bureau, and they have tons of paperwork for every type of situation possible.  I know a bit about paperwork..”   Or later the group is talking about Nepalese cuisine, “Oh well I used to be a commercial cook/manager for six months.  I can cook you some curry!”. Smile. :D

Or maybe I’m talking to my professor about a summer internship, “What courses have you taken?  What skill sets do you have?  Have you taken some statistics courses?”  Me, “Well I know about natural hazards, cost/benefit analysis, math, data management, science..  I have skills with multiple types of computer software.. Yes I’ve taken a statistics course, and plan to learn R programming..  I’m taking cartography and can build you a geodatabase with multiple layers, and will be learning to analyze it at a higher level next semester.”  Professor, “Oh well that’s great!  I can get introduce you to someone in the local government.  We’ll just write him an email and get you a paid internship for the summer..  And, now that I think about it there’s this course that might be of interest to you being offered next semester.  It will deal with some spatial analysis, covering a wide range of topics.  It should be right up your alley!  Oh, and hey well they’re offering some of the students paid summer work with the university!”…

And then there’s this time in Fort Collins, CO I’m sitting in a bar making small talk with the bartender about GIS and my interest in it.  And this guy sitting two seats down from me, in this nearly empty bar, pipes up, “Oh I know someone in the industry!  I’ll send him an email for you.  He’s the type of guy that will email you.. Not the other way around..”  And he emails this contact, and hands me his business card.  I get an email message within sixty seconds and it’s the, “Director of Standards for the Open Geospatial Consortium.”  Well that’s just cool!..  I’ve termed it, “Accidental Bar Networking”. ;)  Later I find out that the man in the bar, was a computer genius that started his own company at age 12, and now runs some huge “green analysis” computer consulting business just because he loves it.  You just never know who you’re sitting next to in a bar.  Take the risk!

So, in conclusion, I have already found my wide spanning knowledge and skill base to be of use.  While (currently) I am not an expert in anything (and am certainly no genius), I can relate to all sorts of academic conversations.  And heck, I even meet geniuses accidentally in bars on occasion.. ;) 

The whole point of this blog, “Life is a Mountain Path”, is to challenge yourself, be open minded, try new things, ride the waves of life (ups and downs), and never give up.  You just don’t know what’s around the next bend, life’s an adventure, and a good wide range of skills and knowledge can still be very beneficial in the 21^st century. 

I still have no idea where I am going with all of this.  But do I regret any of the college courses I’ve ever taken?  Even the ones I’ve done poorly in?  Well, “NO!  I am very thankful that I can talk to an engineer, a person from another religion, an economist, a photographer, a mapmaker, a historian, an anthropologist, etc..  And hey, it doesn’t all go over my head completely.  And hey, sometimes I can lend a different perspective to a conversation from the back seat of the room.  And hey, I just met this cool scientist at a bar the other day.  And hey, I’ve got some bar stories to tell you about that time I was stuck in a storm for hours in the boulder field on Longs Peak.  Yeah, and there’s that trip I took all over the United States visiting national parks, major regional cities, mountains, beaches, and deserts.  So yes, those “General Education” courses are totally worth it!  And yes, I’m glad I spent 7 years, on and off, at the University of Southern Indiana getting that first bachelor’s degree and exploring a bit of everything.  And heck, (I’ll finally admit it..) I did learn a thing or two from Purdue.

 You never know when you might need to duct tape a hose together in a tiny spacecraft halfway to the moon.  Or (fictional at this point), you never know when you might need to calculate the trajectory of extending a Mars mission 500+ days (or use those botany skills to make a potato farm.)  - Go see, “The Martian” or read the book if you don’t get it. ;)

Nick Whittemore

General Specialist

Student of Geography

22 October, 2015

Dancing

Dancing

"Trail running in the mountains is like dancing with the mountains, the forests, and the clouds at the same. It's dancing with the natural terrain. Although, it is a rather rough set of footwork at times."

Nick Whittemore 
3rd, October 2015

It’s Been Five Years since I set Foot in Colorado

It’s Been Five Years since I set Foot in Colorado

It has been five years since I set foot in Colorado.  This new place has provided both freedom and forgiveness, and I’m loving every minute of it.  Here comes a meditation of images and feelings about Colorado: 

Mountains, blue skies, sunrises, sunsets, travel the road out to sweet old Colorado my friend.  Can’t wait, can’t wait, here it comes.  Good old Colorado.  What a place it is!  I can’t really believe what an impact that it has made on me, and it will forever be imprinted upon me, and I will never forget to leave my imprint upon this great state. 

Blue skies, mountains, rolling thunderous clouds coming across the plains, only to be halted by great majestic peaks.  Storms of thunder, storms with rain, they come hither only to leave their marks in the form of green, green, green foliage and purple and red flowers dancing through the fields.  Oh Colorado, what a place.  Oh Colorado, what a fantastic place!

Here I come roaring down the straightaway.  Here I come with new ideas, new knowledge, “a new me”!  It’s been five years since I first set foot in Colorado, but oh it only seems like yesterday.  It all seems to mold into a few fleeting moments, but oh what a few moments those really were.

I can’t wait to make it back to good old Colorado.  It is perhaps the greatest state in the nation!  On the road again Jack, to good old Colorado.  Sunsets and sunrises but mostly just bright sunlight filling up every day and every minute and every second of that brand new life of mine.  What a place!  I tell you what a place..

Good old Colorado!

Nick Whittemore

20^th of September, 2015

Climb with Purpose

                        Climb with Purpose

I've been contemplating lately the specific reasons for why I decided to go back and seek a second degree in geographic information sciences.  After considering many aspects I have come to the correct conclusion that it was really for self satisfaction. 

Over the past several years since graduating with my first degree on December 12th, 2012 from the University of Southern Indiana, I have pursued Colorado.  I knew I really wanted to spend my time in Colorado from the minute that I graduated.  One of my first attempted paths was to apply for every national park, and other governmental job available.  Over the course of several months I applied for 42 national park and government jobs throughout the western United States, many of them in Colorado.  After having little to no luck I ended up going back to Colorado to work a seasonal position with Xanterra Parks & Resorts in 2013.  That season, on September 12th, 2013 there was a great flood caused by a once a 1,000 year rain event.  I ended up leaving Colorado and touring much of the western United States on my way back to Indiana.  
After spending a winter and spring in Indiana I received a call from my former general manager at the company.  This led to me becoming the employee dining hall manager for the 2014 season.  After finishing up this position I decided to apply to ski resorts in the Colorado area, but after figuring in the costs of living it made no sense.  So, I ended up driving down the road to the YMCA of the Rockies and working there seasonally for eight straight months.  In the winter I had a lot of extra time to think and I just came up with the fact that I was not satisfied doing these types of seasonal jobs anymore.  So the reality of it was, I wanted something purposeful as a career/life path.  So I applied to the six best public universities in Colorado and was accepted to all of them, including the University of Colorado at Boulder.  I am now studying Geography and GIS with the hopes of pursuing something such as hazard mitigation, planning, environmental mapping, or international development after I graduate in a few years.  

Notice that I didn't mention anything about money?  The primary reason for my decision to go back to college again was to better myself and to help make the world a little bit better place.  Money is money, yeah everyone needs it, but what you do in life matters more than money.  As a friend of mine said back at the University of Southern Indiana, "The money will come and go, but your happiness doesn't have to go along with it".  I really like that little saying, and I do realize that there were likely many other folks that said this or something similar before my friend did, but it's true.  

A secondary reason for me picking the University of Colorado at Boulder, was that I really feel like I can succeed.  Part of this whole thing, as it has been for several years now, is proving to myself that I can and will succeed greatly at a large scale university.  There are so many opportunities here!  So many possibilities, and great things to fill my time.  Years ago, about ten years ago I started down a similar path in a great program at a university with endless opportunities but I wasn't ready, and it wasn't at all the right path, and that's totally okay.  I went back and finished my first bachelors from a different university and am very proud that I completed it, but it hasn't quite gotten me where I want to go.  It built a firm foundation of knowledge and skills that will aid me for the rest of my life, but I can do even better.  At Purdue University I failed later to succeed at the University of Southern Indiana, and now I will succeed at my most difficult obstacle yet the University of Colorado Boulder.  I'm older now, more willing to fight the main stream and jump in to all of the unique opportunities from internships, to tough courses, to outdoor sports, to volunteer opportunities, to unique and accepting religious groups.  Part of this is about overcoming failure, but that is a definite second to building purpose.

The reality of it was that I had to experience failure, and overcome it with perseverance and "faith" to end up where I am now at one of the great universities in the world.  I had to fail at engineering and at Purdue in order to wander down another set of paths towards enlightening myself in every other area of life imaginable.  I am so glad that I failed!  This is because failure launched me on a long period of self exploration and allowed me to take risks that I had never desired to take before.  Sure there were more failures along the way, and somehow just after I had left Purdue University for a second time and following my grandfathers death I ended up in Colorado in 2010.  My grandpa would be happy that I've ended up in Colorado and that I have the opportunities ahead of me that I do now.  He loved the American west and so do I!  In 2010 and forever onward I've looked back on some of the stories that my mom shared with me about my grandfather.  I can't help think what a great amazing life he had, and all that he experienced in 98 years of it!  He is one my many great inspirations.  

So, anyway after failing I ended up in Colorado and finished my first college degree and all the things after that.  I still failed occasionally, I failed at pursuing that national park job, but hey I gave it my best and found another way to be out here in Colorado.  Sometimes it takes reality to sink in to drive a person to begin dreaming again, and then to bring back those ideas and dreams back to reality.  Reality and purpose go hand in hand.  Failure drives success, and dreams drive new realities. Climb up the ladder step by step and grab onto those dreams, or another view: draw out those dreams from within..  

I am finding purpose in the reality of what I am currently pursuing. (y)

Charles N. Whittemore, a.k.a. "Nick"
September 13th, 2015

Higher Mountains

"When men climb mountains together, the rope between them is more than a physical aid to the ascent, it is a symbol of the spirit of enterprise. It is a symbol of men banded together in a common effort of will and strength against their own true enemies: inertia, cowardice, greed, ignorance, and all weaknesses of spirit." - Charles Houston

Higher Mountains

I was thinking today about all the things I’ve accomplished over the past several years.  I’ve graduated from college.  I’ve hiked Longs Peak, four other 14ers, and at least fifteen other mountains peaks.  I’ve run a half marathon, and up a few thousand foot climbs.  I’ve been accepted to five universities, one of them is one of the top schools in the nation for my chosen field.  It is located in Boulder, CO one of the most beautiful cities in the nation.  I did all these things simply because they were hard, and because I didn’t really believe I could accomplish them.  Then I did. 

Before all this, I failed.  I failed badly.  Many times.  I quit Purdue engineering.  I flunked out of another university, and I quit running.  Then I went back to Purdue and failed again.. Then in 2010 I got back up.  I went to Colorado for the first time.  I hiked a hundred or more miles.  I went back to college and two years later I graduated.  December 2012.  Then I hiked Longs Peak.  August 2013.  Then I saw the western United States.  October 2013.  Then I had my first experience as a manager.  May to October 2014.  Then I climbed three 14ers in one day.  September 2014.  Then I was accepted to five universities.  January through April 2015.  Then I ran my first half marathon April 2015.  Then I chose to, "Be Boulder" at the University of Colorado in Boulder.  Also, April 2015.

Now I must find new challenges, bigger challenges, and higher mountains.  And I will.  And when I do, I will climb them and fail many times.  But I will reach those peaks, because I can, and I will lead other people to the same heights, because I must.  This is what I do, and who I am.  I will follow others to those places sometimes, and other times blaze my own path of fire in the darkness.  This is what we do as human beings.  Reach for the stars, the mountain tops, the bottoms of the oceans, the moon.. and farther.

Let’s solve the worlds’ problems.  Let’s go that extra mile.  Let’s not forget our failures, but surpass them.  Let’s go to the moon again.  Let’s go to Mars.  Let’s stop war.  Let’s halt climate change.  Let’s simplify the most complex of problems.  Let’s move on.  Go forward.  Reach higher.  Because this is what we do, and who we are.

May 19th, 2015

Nick Whittemore

Until the beast escapes

Until the beast escapes

Run and run,

on and on,

up and up,

forever and ever,

over the hills.

Beyond the horizon,

on and on,

forever and ever,

up and up,

along the ridge,

down the straightaway,

near the creek,

along the rushing water,

over the hills.

On and on,

forever and ever,

beyond…

Over the hills,

on and on,

along the river,

beside the trail,

towards the goal,

across the line.

Run and run,

forever and ever,

until the beast escapes..

and sets me free..

Charles N. Whittemore

May 9^th, 2015

Inspiration drawn from these lines of my 2007 poem "Winter Jogging"

"The beast within longs to escape

Running alongside me

Coursing through my veins.."

All we've got is our stories.

All we've got is our stories

At the end of our lives all we've got is our stories.
The good and the bad ones.
The great and the sad ones.
They're all there.
Some of them are inspiring, and others are disheartening.

Let's learn from those stories.
Let's learn from them while we live them, and afterwards when we tell them.
Let's inspire people in little ways, every single day.

Never give up.
Keep on going.
Take the bad with good, and the good with the bad,
And never forget either of them.

Let's make memories and stories that will live on forever.
This is how we change history.
We are a part of history ourselves.
For the good and bad, no can take away our experiences.
No can ever erase those stories and those interactions from history.

They can try and rewrite the history books, but in the end they can't.
Those handful of people you've inspired or helped out during the course of your life won't forget.
They can't forget, because you changed their history, you influenced their actions.

Let's make stories together.
Let's take risks together.
Let's run races, not against each other, but together.
Never give up and never forget.

There are many countless people who have inspired me in some way, both small and large in my life.
I am truly truly thankful for that. 
I will never forget their stories, because those stories are a part of me now.
That's it, it's that simple.

Always finish the race.  
Let's make memories and stories that will live on forever. 
In the end, "All we've got is stories". 
Let's learn from those stories.  Never give up, never forget..



Charles N. Whittemore 
April 6th, 2015

Life as a runner

Life as a runner

So, I've found a new sport.  Or a new sport has found me.  It's called trail running.  I've been doing it on and off since about June 2014.  I love it.  Period.  It's already taught me to be vigilant, constantly in tune with my surroundings, what lies ten yards ahead, where to put my foot down next.  It provides obstacles; streams, boulders, rocks, rough terrain, long uphills, equally long downhills, mountains to climb, elk to dodge, unseen predators.. It's exciting, exhilarating at times.  

The views at the top of the mountains are mesmerizing, words don't put it in perspective, photos don't capture it, only the human soul does if only for a few fleeting moments.  Run through the wind, the storms, across the open fields, under the bright sun, below the glowing moon, in the dark with only a headlamp lighting the next 10 yards (if lucky) out in front.  

Unseen obstacles, watch your foot steps, keep your pace, stand up straight, look ahead of you, not down at your feet.  Run through the pain, but rest if it's that bad.  Put in those miles, put in those hours.  Grow stronger, always looking forward towards your goal.  Or take another approach, wander off the beaten path, go left instead of right.  Take a break to tie your shoe.  

Walk a minute, slow your pace to make it the top of that hill.  Stop to take a breath.  Breath in the thin fleeting mountain air.  Listen to the birds, the bugling elk, the whistling wind.  Watch for signs of changing weather.  Go run anyway.  Run by yourself, or run with a friend.  Run barefoot to improve technique, keep it up, keep it up. If you fall, get up again and finish that race.  Or walk with dignity to the end.  

Look up and feel the rain on your face, or the cold on your cheeks, or the snow in your hair. Drink in life as it passes by (and yes do also drink some water). Let it flow like the breeze through the trees, or water in the streams.  Over the obstacles as if they weren't even there...  It's a game of the mind.  What deserves your attention at any moment?  How can you get the most out of every breath of life?  
Change it up, run on the smooth pavement or through the unpredictable fields of grass.  Run through snow, on ice, through streams, in the mud.  Get it all.  Experience a little of everything.  That's right, that what it is, that's what does it for me.  And most importantly go through it all with a smile on your face, because it's good, oh so good.  It's life as a runner.


Charles N. Whittemore
January the 20th, 2015