Our Yosemite Adventure

International Students, Inc.: The Further We Go, The Closer We Get

By Peggy Pollard

As our ISI Santa Cruz hikers struggled up their final steps to the top of Vernal Falls trail, I waited for them at the top rock, cheering and clapping each victorious arrival. The last hikers up the final narrow stretch of granite path along the cliff edge were a 3-year old girl and her dad from China. They tried to not freak out as they clung to the safety rail just below the cliff top, still soaking wet from the roaring waterfall’s mist. But once they stepped across the ledge and saw the magnificent resting area — broad rocks sloping down to the falls edge, their faces broke into a big grin.

This moment made it all feel worthwhile — It’s not easy to get 12 top-notch UCSC international scholars to take a whole weekend off from their cutting edge research projects. Our ISI Bay Area team, and Barbara Gaskell and I from Santa Cruz spent weeks of prayer, planning, and a weekend of tour guiding with many unexpected difficulties.

But Yosemite is famous, dependably awesome every year. So we feel privileged to be their trusted guides to share this magical spot in the universe.

At the top of Vernal Falls, we hikers were all amazed that the 3-year-old girl had climbed up the path herself, holding her mom & dad’s hands, but on her own legs, not being carried.

Then, she thought it was such fun getting wet from the waterfall, she said she wanted to hike with us to the top of the second waterfall too — Nevada Falls, a six-mile round trip with very steep elevation. And she did!

Her, father, a postdoctoral researcher, later shared his family’s story with our ISI trip group of 80 people at Sunday lunch. This was his first experience with ISI, so he was hesitant about coming. But the trip deeply moved him.

He had been working so hard the last few years focused on his important research work in France and UCSC that he had hardly spent any time with his daughter since she was born.

Spending the weekend with his wife (also a UCSC postdoc researcher) and daughter was a big turnaround for him. He said that on the trail, he had felt so tired that he didn’t want to go up even the first waterfall if it weren’t for us encouraging him.

Then seeing his daughter happily climb both waterfalls amazed him. Our ISI weekend had really brought him close with his family, he said. He later told me he now wants to go on ISI events every month!

His wife also asked a lot of spiritual questions over the weekend with her home hosts and with us, about Christianity and the Bible — an open door for a new adventure to explore spiritual places even better than Yosemite.

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For UCSC ISI contact Peggy Pollard, International Students, Inc ppollard@isionline.org For more information about International Students Inc. visit http://www.isionline.org