Q: What state is one of the most southernly states and sits right beside Arizona?
A: New Mexico!
I got asked at least 7 times, when I returned home, if I had traveled to Mexico. Every time I had to remind the person that New Mexico was not in Mexico, or that New Mexico is not Mexico’s other name. So having been there and realizing that New Mexico is its own state, is a sign I am already learning things!
Upon our return from New Mexico we were assigned the PGP project of reflecting deeply on out experience on our trip, talking about how we flexibly created, imagined, and innovated while taking responsible risks.
Every trip is overflowing with responsible risks, (some more responsible then others) and for you as a reader to understand them, I would like to give a example of a responsible risk.
On day four we found ourselves gazing down at the location the first ever atomic bomb had been detonated. The trinity site (the place of first detonation) played a major role in history, and so played a major role in our books. This meant that we were collecting every bit of content we could, such as: stand ups, video, sounds, photos, facts, and interviews. It the last one that I’m going to focus on for this example. I saw a few of my class mates asking people at the test site why they were at the test site today, and why the trinity site was so significant to them personally. I felt the need to ask someone as well. I found a older gentlemen who had a hat that read “veteran” in large, bright font.
The man was around my height, and he seemed to be all by himself. George Wolf, the owner of this bold hat that I had been drawn towards, told me all about why he was at the trinity site that day. That interview, even though it was only 45 seconds, ended up becoming a staple of my project.
It helped me to see how much other people were affected by this, and another person’s perspective on such a controversial topic. I would like to think of this as one of the more recognized responsible risks that I took this trip, but durning this post I will delve into a few that are smaller, but packed with as much meaning.
While we were visiting the trinity test site, on our fourth day in New Mexico, we were taken on a bus to the house where the worlds first Atomic bomb was assembled. The house was only around 2 kilometres from the test site. No one was in this house when the bomb detonated because when that first bomb went off a whole section of the house collapsed and all the windows blew in.
During the whole time at the trinity site I had noticed the military presence everywhere we looked. Personally I am always drawn to the military. I always feel as if I have hundreds of questions to ask and never enough time to find answers for them all. Take for example Encounters Canada.
In encounters we spent a afternoon speaking to veterans and seeking out information about the present military. I found these moments shared with the veteran were some of the most informational throughout that whole week. I found a side of myself that will constantly be interested by people who put their lives on the line to protect us. So when we visited the bomb house, the military there made me extremely interested. Though I talk about speaking to veterans and military in the past, its still nerve racking going up to someone you don’t know. Especially someone that you don’t necessarily want information from but more of a conversation with. The woman I went up to to speak with had a name tag that read GARCIA. She wasn’t speaking to any of the tourists at the site and seemed to be gazing off, wishing to get out of the hot sun. She would turn to speak to her partner ANGEL, every now and then, but mostly just stuck to her self. After around 5 mins of my self awkwardly watching her, trying to obtain confidence to talk to them, I walked up to her. I introduced myself, and we had a super interesting and deep conversation. She told me all bout how her husband was also in the military and that he was stationed in Korea. How she hadn’t seen him in months, and how she might be heading to Hawaii after her time in New Mexico. This information was so increasingly helpful during this project. It played a major role in my project because I was able to connect the military presence with my one on one conversation. I was also able to grow my understanding just a little bit on the military which is something I am always looking to do!
The last way I took a creative risk, that I’m going to talk about plays into my fun on the trip, and it has to do with Meow Wolf. Meow Wolf, what a place. I can not give you a proper description of Meow Wolf because I don’t think such a thing exists.
(Hopefully this video gives you context on the extremes that Meow Wolf produces!)
It was the strangest experience, crazy colours, interesting room design, weird art, etc. One of the things that really stood out to me were these tiny spaces that lead into larger spaces. Extremely vague, let me just fill you in. One of these “spaces” was through a washing machine, one was through a fridge, one was through a hole in the wall, and one was up a teeny tiny staircase. This last “space” was the one I wanted to focus on for my responsible risk. Let me describe the staircase to you. This staircase lead from a floor in what looked to be a Sahara style, candy store to a goth and deathly styled area. There were other ways to reach the goth, deathy styled room, but I wanted to take this tiny staircase, and so towards it I walked. Only until i was standing in it did I realize how claustrophobic I am. I used to be a lot more claustrophobic, but I am much more adventurous now and I like to push the boundary of my claustrophobia to see if one day I can eventually overcome it. This was one of those moments.
I decided to take a responsible risk and explore this tiny staircase, even though I felt like playing it safe was a better idea. I climbed the staircase and realized how good I felt. I had taken a risk and it had payed off, I was not hyperventilating in the corner, and I wasn’t stuck in the staircase so I took that as a good sign.
To wrap this up, taking responsible risks is different for everyone. A responsible risk does not mean pushing yourself to do something your not comfortable with doing, it just means expanding what your comfortable with! Another thing to keep in mind is that if your taking a responsible risk that means that you want to better your self somehow, (because if your just taking plain risks, then I don’t think I would be writing a blog post about them!) so always keep that in mind!
During this trip we were creating books about the Manhattan project and if you would like to take a look at my finished project it is right here!
Thanks for reading
Adlih