After earning her Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from The University of Massachusetts, Christine Spear worked as a physical education instructor in Massachusetts and later in southern Maine. In Maine she discovered that the school’s physical education curriculum required components of wilderness education, and, though Christine had grown up near wilderness preserves, she was not an expert at “roughing it.” Committed to excellence in teaching, she decided to sign up for a three-week adult educators’ course with the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. The course would be both extremely challenging and highly rewarding for Christine.
Eager to learn, Christine volunteered to be the first “captain of the day” on her boat. Everything went well until the end of the day when it was time to drop the anchors. Unbeknownst to the students, Christine had anchored them without the bow into the wind — making it was a very rough night. Everyone was nauseated the next morning. Unfortunately, Christine’s seasickness didn’t go away after that first night, and she was sick more than two thirds of her course. Her instructor gave her some medication, but it wasn’t enough. Days later her boat was caught in a squall on the way out to Matinicus after not having wind all week. In full foul weather gear, Christine’s watch pointed the bow of the boat into the wind to ride out the storm for what seemed like forever.
Over the course of days and weeks, Christine battled seasickness and new experiences with dignity and grit. The happier memories of her journey involve climbing the Otter Cliffs of Mount Desert Island, hiking Cadillac Mountain, camping, and running on the islands.
Christine’s course accomplished her goals by preparing her for the rigorous physical education curriculum she would teach. However, Christine also learned many things that helped her outside of the classroom. Christine thanks the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School for teaching her about perspective. She learned how to keep her composure, think about those depending on her, and dig deeper for the necessary drive to keep going.
She explains, “When you are at the mercy of nature, for example – out in an open boat, when the waves pick up or a storm comes in you need to be able to handle another stressor when you’re already under stress. You learn to maintain your composure, do a job, and be a team member.”
Whenever life gets stressful, Christine thinks back to that day half-way to Matinicus when she was sick, clinging to the gunnel, and, along with her crew, trying to figure out a way to keep the boat pointed into the wind. Now, Christine can approach every situation in her life, and gracefully say, “This is nothing!”