CDT Girl Power!

Before beginning work with SCC I was apprehensive about the work- would I be able to handle serious physical labor for eight hours a day, every day?  Being a teenage girl only about five feet tall, physical strength has never been my strong suit.  What was I getting myself into?!!  I agonized on my way to work and became even more anxious when I saw the saws and tool we were supposed to use.

However, I’ve completely surprised myself- I really love the long hours and hard work of a day at SCC.  My crew has been working in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, making and maintaining the Continental Divide Trail, a hiking trail that extends fro Mexico to Canada.  Most of what I spend my day doing is digging up rocks and weeds, clearing brush, removing bushes and related tasks to clear out a passable trail.  It gives me time to think, white at the same time it feels really good to work hard and feel myself getting stronger from the work.  At SCC, the girls are expected to be-and are- as hard working and strong as the boys, though the crews are really supportive and understanding of each other.  It feels good to be making things with my hands and to be taken seriously for my strength- two things I wish more girls had the chance to experience, and makes me glad I joined SCC!

-Phoebe Neel, Corpsmember on Crew 120 out of SCC-Sonoran Desert