Inez Johnson

Long before I decided to go teach English in the woods, I guess I already held fierce convictions both about the outdoor world and the power of language. Family lore follows that while once on a hike with my family at age 3, I wasn’t having it. My parents, determined to impress upon me the importance of language, had encouraged me never to say “I don’t like” and had instead equipped me with the phrase “I don’t care for….” for describing my day-to-day dislikes. As the story goes, mid-hike, I declared: “I don’t care for nature” — practically blasphemy to my Montanan mother.

Fortunately, thanks to a little bit of growing up and a whole lot of time spent backpacking at summer camp in the Colorado Rockies, my attitude towards the outdoors became one of immense care and wonder. Appreciative of how a small, residential community at camp built community, I headed east to Bates College to explore what this might feel like in New England. At Bates, I double majored in Politics and Sociology with concentrations in a) Law and Society, b) Identity, Race and Ethnicity, and c) Knowledge, Action, and the Public Good (the studies were exciting; the titles were lengthy). But this laundry list of academic interests could all be boiled down to one area of study: people! My academic readings, community-engaged research, and long conversations over meals alike taught me how we build authentic, compassionate connections — and what those connections do to create positive change.

Settings like tents in the backcountry and discussion-based classrooms both helped me forge close-knit communities and develop more nuanced ideas about human communities’ relationship with the wider world around them. At Chewonki, I’m thrilled that these things go hand in hand!

Though thankfully retired from my days of collegiate cross country, I still enjoy running around Maine (and other states!). When I’m not doing that, I am trying to decode Taylor Swift lyrics, experimenting with gluten free baking, or surfing Maine’s public radio stations in search of great music (surfing Maine’s coast is still a work-in-progress).