Samuel is currently a 3A student. In addition to his Major in Planning, he is taking a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. Unlike the traditional co-op path, he set foot in his own route when he stumbled upon a new journey: Tree planting in British Columbia, in Western Canada.
Upon embarking on the Spring 2021 job search for a seasonal position, he managed to seize an opportunity with Summit Reforestation. He previously worked with the company in spring 2020 and was delighted to return there for a second season of tree-planting. Even though this was a venture in a different province, he found the job opportunity to be just as thrilling as the first season.
Samuel and his crew worked to replant the areas to replace the trees that had been cut down by the lumber industry. His crew had a goal of rebuilding areas that were clear-cut to help rebuild the environment. He shared that the crew would build across the Alaskan highway in St. John's. Specifically, the crew planted near Fort Saint John, Fort Nelson, Fort James, and Mackenzie in northern BC - sometimes 100km away in bleak areas as worked through on dirt roads.
The team worked individually, and Samuel had his own share of arduous work – as he put his own blood, sweat, and tears into the reforestation. He had to ensure that the saplings were up to par regarding standards. He would often get injured with the physical labor ensuring aspects like covering the sapling with a certain amount of soil, measuring to see if there is a meter distance from sapling to sapling, and verifying if the green collar is visible beyond the soil. He reflected:
It’s peaceful to be in nature, as we learn how calming and in touch it makes us with ourselves and with the people around us. It is an internal experience that is hard to explain unless you experience it first-hand. When you work so hard at a job in nature - where you get in your head, it becomes a mind game to keep going even when you are hurt as you are stuck in your head thinking about what you said to your family. It is painfully therapeutic. There were moments where I broke down and cried terribly on the side of a mount that looked off to another where there was a beautiful lake - because I was in despair in my thoughts. We learned how hard life can be. We learned what it means to overcome hardship and keep going. I would plant in hail and freeze my hands, but for some reason have the strength to keep going and encourage my crew to work hard, while thinking “how crazy is this, I might die”. We work for the environment but we work to become strong, gritty, and tenacity – to recognize the power of attitude in life. We learned how it is like to be in nature and mend it but mainly build character in ourselves
Samuel would work odd hours to get the job done – as he had to work outdoors when the weather permitted. He would work three days in a row, then receive one day off for three and half months. In May and June, his workdays start at 7 am and ended at 6 pm to accommodate the spring weather. In July and August, his workday would start at 4 am and ended at 4 pm to work through the scorching summer weather.
The way the land got distributed varied a lot and was not something we could divvy up. Depending on the land, the number of trees that were contracted to be planted was different. The areas would be split up so that we would finish them with what was asked for us to plant in the area. The trees were not split evenly it was just whoever could get more in the ground. The foreman would simply give everyone a share of the land to plant the trees. Planting a tree can take up 5-6 seconds which meant we planted about 2000 trees together.
He relates much of his experience to Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) courses, including, PACS 310: Peace and the Environment. He mentioned that his tree planting role was transferable to observations made in PACS 310 course - as both are nature-centered:
Both are nature-centred. Both cover reducing carbon footprint, encouraging tree planting and offsetting destruction. When I think about tree-planting, I think about not only replenishing the earth, but changing my personal growth
One aspect that he took away from the course was to aim at connecting with nature at a deeper level. He found that planting trees was his way of connecting to nature, and it really kept him rethinking the relationships, job prospects, and the places that he got to be in over the spring term in great appreciation.
Samuel was also able to connect his understanding of PACS 201: Roots of Conflict, Violence and Peace, and PACS 203: A History of Peace Movements during his time tree-planting in British Columbia. He observed that both courses had taught him concepts revolving around perspectives – with PACS 201 looking at how working on the reforestation industry has an impact on the greater good of the environment, and with PACS 203 on looking at what goes behind replanting to offset climate change.
Samuel believes that the greatest skill that he developed throughout this experience was a strong work ethic. He is confident that this is a skill that is transferable to many other aspects of life and is grateful for the experience that helped establish this skill. In addition, he developed perseverance skills. Tree-planting requires perseverance, he said. Samuel feels that this was an important skill to acquire as it goes together with an excellent work ethic. He said:
Every challenging thing that you beat, makes life less scary - that perseverance and practice encourages you to live with tenacity
To date, Samuels prides himself among environmental justice activists as he has a plant count of 120,000 trees in spring 2021.