WilderWHAT?

             It was the second day of classes back at BYU Provo.  I headed to my English 317 class: Writing Creative Nonfiction.  I took my seat and class began as our grey-haired professor had us move our desks into a circle and face one another.  Things commenced with the usual "go-around-the-circle-and-say-something-interesting-about-yourself" bit, and interesting facts were learned about everyone as we tried to share things about ourselves that no one else had in common.  We laughed as a girl admitted to having tried a grasshopper taco, oohed as a boy revealed that he had been on the Tonight Show for starting the sport  "Extreme Wheel-barreling", and squirmed uncomfortably in our seats as our professor shared that he had once peed in Coke bottle while driving on a motor-way in London.  After becoming barely acquainted with one another, we moved on to the official-first-day-of-class business and discussed some basic information about what this class would entail.  Our professor stressed that we would be mostly writing and journaling, and learning how to fine-tune our abilities to write creatively about our own thoughts and experiences.  At one point our professor threw in the word, "backpacking", but nearly everyone passed it off as some kind of miscommunication.  Then, after about 20 minutes into the class, a boy raised his hand and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm confused.  I heard you say backpacking.  I'm registered for regular English 317, but I did notice a Wilderness section.  Did I sign up for the wrong section by accident?" Our professor chuckled, "Yes, you must have.  Everyone's here for Wilderness Writing, right?" and turned to look at 15 bewildered faces.  Becoming confused himself, our professor straightened up in his seat and said, "Okay. How many of you know that this is Wilderness Writing?"  Two out of 17 people raised their hands.  Let's just say, I've never been more surprised when going over the syllabus for a new class. 

"Yes class. This is Wilderness Writing.  We will be snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and taking several overnight trips into the Uinta Mountains where we will cross-country ski and dig snow caves. And then, we will use these wilderness trips to bond with one another and write about our experiences, because actual experience is the best material for writing! Aren't you all excited???" 

          15 shocked faces blinked back at the professor.  Expecting an ordinary creative writing class, of course we were all surprised by this shocking twist.  After the initial perplexity wore off, excitement filled the room.  Then, we learned that in order to take this class and go on all these trips we'd also have to be registered for a 2 credit course called  "Wilderness Survival". This was just the "Wilderness" part of "Wilderness Writing" in which we'd actually do all these outdoor winter activities. Surprisingly, only the kid who raised his hand to ask about the class mix-up dropped the class and left.  The rest of us spent the rest of the hour trying to figure out how to make this adventure-of-a-class fit into our schedules.  
     
As it turns out, their was a huge error with registration for English 317.  On Route Y it said, "Section 2 is Wilderness Writing and anyone registered for Section 2 of English 317 will be required to also register for Recreation Management and Youth Life 223."  Seeing this notice, the 15 of us who were confused upon learning that the class was Wilderness Writing had promptly registered for Section 3.  Unbeknownst to us, the notice was incorrect and it was actually Section 3 that was Wilderness Writing.  I still don't understand how the other 2 people who actually wanted to sign up for this class knew to register for Section 3, but kudos to them, I guess.  So.... I guess I'm taking Wilderness Writing! I think it'd be way cool, and there's only an extra cost of 20$ which covers all of the snowshoeing, skiing, and backpacking equipment.  But, I still have to figure out if I can afford to miss 4 days of my other class for the overnight trips, and if I'll be able to handle taking 17 credits instead of 15, not to mention the extra time that will be taken away from doing homework for my other classes.  Plus, I wanted to get a job...and if I want to take Wilderness Writing, that could be a problem.  So....yeah.  This semester is starting out in an unusually interesting way.  I'm excited for this semester no matter what I decide, but it could turn out to extra-exciting! :)