0 Learningby experiencing: NELP' ByHarlan Kahn Riding in a van for 14 hours, with 10 people I didn't know is how my summer began-Our destination was an obscure place that can only be truly remem- bered by those people who have lived it. Deep in the woods of New Hampshire, in a little town called Wolfeboro, at a girl's camp named Kehonka, off the shores of the wide, beautiful Lake Win- nepausakee lives the University's New England Literature Program. For me, NELP was the ultimate in academics. For seven weeks, I hiked, camped, read, wrote, talked, ate, slept, partied and did an awful lot of thinking. I was enrolled in three classes and ear- ned eight credits. THE MOST important part of the program, however, were the "classes" attended on the dock, in the wooks, at the Dockside restaurant, and even on the mountains climbed. Much was leanred through the diversity of people I met, during our talks by the fire, and in our huge, seemingly continuous meals. I lived in a old beat up wooden cabin with two other students. The three of us livedabove three other students, who were all complete slobs. We became close friends and shared - countless laughs together. The staff of NELP centered around a core of three professors, although anyone who had anything to teach could teach it. In fact, the professors would probably take offense at my referring The Michigan Daily-runday Playing cot in Montana By Poe Coughlan Did you ever drive to town with a cow licking your neck? Put up 15 tons of hay by hand or savor prairie oysters fresh from the fire? Working as a ranch hand on a cattle ranch last summer in Mon- tana, I had the opportunity to experien- ce these and many other western traditions. May first found me far from the student-clogged- streets of Ann Arbor, bouncing along on a snow-drifted dirt road in the middle of the boonies. Destination? Sleeping Pines ranch tucked up beneath the Bridger Moun- tains, in Bozeman, Montana, accessible only by a 40 mile decrepid dirt road. HOME FOR THE next four months, I soon discovered, was a little, 100-year- old, one-room, homesteader's log cabin complete with a quilt covered brass bed and an ancient cast-iron wood-burning stove. Beneath the southern-exposed porch, a stream trickled. The main house itself is nestled against the Bridger Mountains in the northeast corner of the Gallatin Valley. The floor of the valley is checkered with rolling fields of winter wheat and barley. En- closing the Mountains to to the west Spanish Peak In most par month of Ma: in Montana. two feet of already snow my hopes I necessitating with my wood ALTHOUGI break and tr horses for wo found myself i the cattle op branding. Wit ground, it was the horse opei owner's son's the veterinar; every rancher With a rope attaching him him, and thi people pushing was loaded in Ford. Albert his horns re See SU NELPERS DERIVE insight and inspiration from this mountainous New Hampshire landscape. to them so formally. More accurately, they were our friends. THE SCHEDULE varied from day to day. Each morning we had class from ten to eleven, but the remainder of the day we had reasonably free. Often we spent our afternoons in "societies," ex- tra-academic activities which ranged in subject from Chaucer to gravestone rubbing. Requirements of NELP, however, are inconsequential. Everyone knows what is expected of them. Respon- sibilities are met, but we could basically do what we pleased. There were no formalized pressures. We acted as freely as we wished, forgetting the formal constructions on most of our lives back in Ann Arbor. If you want to go skinny dipping, fine. If you want to go on a "solo" over night in the woods, go ahead. If you want to sleep through class, or write a novel, okay. What was important was that you put forth an honest effort to make the most of your NELP. EACH NELPER KEPT a journal, though there was never a particular reason stated for keeping one. As funny as it may sound, I think my journal became one of my best friends. I used it to record all my experiences. The troubles I had or emotions I needed to express found a convenient sounding board in my journal. It came with me to the summits of Mt. Chocorua and Mt. Washington. It traveled to the coast of Maine. As NELP progressed, you could see things changing. Most obvious of these was nature. The nights, once wintry cold began to warm. The black flies died off and the mosquitoes moved in. The numbing lake water became swimmable. The gorgeous sunset that we witnesses every night from our dining hall windows gradually shifted its position in a trail across the horizon. The moon and stars shining more brightly than any city dweller could ever see, also altered their con- figurations. The changes that were more difficult to perceive were personal. We NELPers began to look at our lives and our world in a new light, each of us in our own way. We felt we experienced true lear- ning-not in the basement of Angell Hall, or in a carrel in the UGLi, but living. Daily Photo by POE COUGHLAN A RANCH WORKER tries to show this horse who's boss. ZA: Take Ulrict away with 3 Clean,. private STORAGE UNITS From.$16 per month . 1%' miles from UM Stadium -FREE $3.50 lock with this ad StowAway 1-94 and Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. Phone: 769-0119 t . . we've got a lot of things you'll need-travel books, stationery,,sunglasses, beach towels, canvas bags.. You'll miss us while you're gone MORE THAN A BOOKSTORE 549 E. University at the corner of East U. and South U. 7 n'.