an unlikely friendship: the bra burner and the sorority girl.

Last summer I took herpetology in Junction, TX for a Maymester.  After having spent the whole semester before that with my nose in an MCAT study book, I can't tell you what a life-altering experience the class was.

I loved it.  Not only did I love the content and challenge of the course - swimming in rivers to catch turtles or water snakes and roaming around ranches pulling up rocks to look for snakes and lizards, but because of the people I met there too.  I got to know my fellow classmates better after a couple days in the class than people I've known my whole life.  Something about Junction strips away initial hesitations about making friends, and challenges the students to get to know each other.  Sure I recognized plenty of the people from having spent three years with them in other biology and chemistry courses, but for the first time, I learned their names. For the first time, we actually spoke to each other.  Junction does that.

One friendship (there were plenty of great ones) I made in the class was with a PhD student named Jenny.  Our friendship kind of defines how Junction brings students together.  We laugh about it now, but we both agree that we were an unlikely match.  Although I think that her rendition of this story is much more entertaining than mine, I'll go ahead and tell it.

When I first met Jenny, all I saw was an earth-hippy bra-burner with Jesus sandals.  She thought that I was an obnoxious sorority girl.  She expected to have a lot in common with another Jesus sandal wearer in the class whose father is a famous river canoer.  I honestly felt like I was kind of the odd man out.

Everyone in the class seemed so nature-esque. They all had these fancy headlamps that they had used before, they could tell you what type of bullfrog was chirping, they loved to get outside and canoe down the river and they all were no strangers to potato rakes*.  I, however, was not this nature savvy. My headlamp had been purchased the day our class started at an Academy outside of Junction, I always thought it was crickets who made that chirping noise, and I thought a potato rake had to do with gardening potatoes.  I mean I was a girl scout, but these people were on a whole 'nother level.

It wasn't until our class took a field trip to a nature conservatory in Oasis, TX that I felt like a began to find my place in the class. Jenny's expected bff* was starting arguments amongst the group, and everyone was pretty damn exhausted from it all.  Jenny, being the confrontation solver/avoider that I soon learned she was, mentioned that she was gonna go herpin' in the natural spring with her snorkel gear.  I naturally jumped on the opportunity to join.

The two of us headed down to the spring. No sorority t-shirts, hippy sandals or headlamps, just bathing suits.  We left our stereotypes and pre-conceived notions back in the cabin. I think it was then that for the first time, we had a real conversation.  Not just about the nature girl turned drama queen of the class, but about life, the prehistoric looking catfish in the water, and the art of snorkeling.  We both learned how much we had in common. An unlikely duo. We spent the rest of the class confiding in each other, sharing what we wanted to do when we grew up, and what our lives were like outside of our world in Junction.

At one point while road herping*, I remember Jenny asking what my hobbies were outside of studying-- a question I hadn't been asked since sometime before my life turned into one big MCAT study session.  Someone saw what they thought was a herp, we stopped, jumped out of the car, and when we got back in the van I told her that I really wasn't sure if I had any real hobbies.

Now that the class has ended, Jenny and I continue to keep in touch.  She taught me to change the tires on my bicycle, introduced me to the first Friday Art Trail in Lubbock, and she consistently helps me add things to my list of hobbies.  We set aside time in our schedules for weekly dates at Triple J's for locally brewed beer tastings and we regularly study/talk biology at J&B together --- I consider her one of my closest friends.

It's funny to me that without Junction, our friendship probably would not have been ignited.  While I don't think Jenny has any intention of joining my sorority anytime soon (or ever), I've picked up a couple earthy characteristics from her. And yes, I now wear Jesus sandals.

                     Jenny and I in our Chacos at the First Friday Art Trail




*potato rakes: the rakes that we used in the class to turn over rocks and pick up snakes.
*bff: best friend forever
*herpin': looking for amphibians and reptiles to catch
*road herping: riding in a truck or van looking for amphibians and reptiles to catch on the road.  Road herping includes a lot of frequent and abrupt stops, Chinese fire drills, and green faces for those who suffer from car-sickness.

Jenny and I on the zoo fieldtrip snuggling with a lion family. One of the last days of the class.