Students
Davien Graham (BS 2021)
"The experience was an exceptional one to say the least. I was taken around
various areas around Michigan and shown things that I had never actually known
existed in my own state. I had been to the northern region of Michigan before, but never
to that magnitude.
The itinerary was very well put together and I never felt like I wasn’t learning
something new or engaging with the fellow students I was traveling with, or the
speakers we were taken around to meet. I was shown so many different aspects and
iterations of forestry and conservation in general, and due to the program my idea of
what it was I could and would do with forestry changed drastically.
I had originally thought that forestry was only good for chopping trees and taking
index, but it made a clear shift to exploring the land and working interdepartmentally to
fulfill sustainable goals of the future. I may never forget the trip to the Inigenous
reservation where they taught us ways in which to engage in sustainable forestry,
thinking decades down the line in their planting techniques. Along with the history of
Idlewild, and the historical reverence of the place in relation to people of color.
More than anything though, I will say that the beautiful locations of Michigan, and
the quiet moments in the deep forests connected me to the land and nature in a way
that I have craved since I was a child. To that degree I thank this program for all it gave,
and look forward to what the program and my mentors can offer for the future."
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