REI: Happy Trails

Last night I taught my final class (map and compass) for the REI Outdoor School, at the Fremont store. The class was a little tricky as some of the students weren’t getting things on the first pass, but in the end everyone seemed to overcome the challenges. I got high marks on the evaluations, much better than normal for a 2-hour class. I’m going to miss that rewarding feeling I got from leading people through the techniques and information.

As usual, one of the students asked me if I would be leading the associated M&C outing and it felt a little weird to say no for a change. I assured him that the people who would be teaching the outing were all very good (which is true.)

When I talked with Steve earlier in the afternoon, he said “Hey, I wanted to tell you that when I was teaching my backcountry cooking class on Sunday, a lady approached me and said “I just wanted to tell you that I took a map and compass class with Dave and Evan, and they were the best instructors! I use what they taught me all the time.”” Wow, that totally made my day! I’m really going to miss that aspect of the job. But I won’t miss working two jobs, 6 and 7 days a week (plus a weeknight) and getting paid squat for it.

I don’t know if my 2008 scores were as good as they were in 2007 (they should have been), but in ’07 I’d not only had the most students of any instructor in the South Bay school, I also held the highest average ratings as well. Yay me! I normally don’t toot my own horn like this, but I am proud of my accomplishment. I can move on with head held high and the satisfaction of a job well done. Now someone just needs to hire me in a permanent, full-time job already. 🙂

Since I’ve ended my time with the REI Outdoor School, perhaps this is a good time to recommend it. They have excellent classes and some wonderful, enthusiastic instructors. I wish them every continued success.