Incoming first-year students don’t imagine spending their first week of college sleeping in tents, climbing rocks, warming by campfires, and road-tripping with thirteen strangers. But Hope College makes this a possibility in its Day1 Michigan Rocks program. Here are the logistics and why I would choose to opt into this all over again.
The Logistics
What is it?
Michigan Rocks is a course that introduces students to Geology in a ten-day camping trip prior to the semester. The students return in time for orientation, and the class meets once a week for half a semester after that.
How much does it cost?
Nada! Michigan Rocks is 100% free to all incoming freshmen.
Who is it for?
The Michigan Rocks course was designed for incoming freshmen with the hopes that it’d give them a head start in making friends and familiarizing themselves with college-level course material. But, this course is open to students of all classes. In fact, I went on the trip as a sophomore!
What if I’m not planning to major in Geology?
Not a problem. Hope actually encourages students of all interests to join this trip! The Anchor Plan, Hope’s general education requirement list, requires all students to take at least one science course. Michigan Rocks counts in this—so why not go on a camping trip for credit that you’ll need?
How many people usually go on the trip?
Along with the professor, two teacher’s sssistants help the trip run smoothly. The limit for students is usually around fifteen.
So what do you actually do on the trip?
Starting from Holland, Michigan, the group travels up to Mackinac City, spends a day on Mackinac Island, and hits Marquette, Munising, and then Copper Harbor. The group usually camps at each site for 1-3 nights, depending on the course prevalence. The days consist of many rock visits/observations (did I mention finding real fossils?!), a couple of museum trips, a visit to a copper mine, and even a chance to use metal detectors.
My Experience
I was the only non-freshman in 2023’s Michigan Rocks cohort, and if I had known about this trip
as a freshman, I totally would have taken the course then. I knew nothing about rocks before taking this class/going on this trip, so when our professor, Dr. Dean instructed us to pull out our field notebooks at our first lunch stop, I panicked. We weren’t even in the UP yet, why are we doing work? I wondered. Dr. Dean then instructed us to draw what we saw and try to label it.
After some time, we regrouped, and Dr. Dean explained what we were seeing. The lines and patterns we had observed had meanings and names. The next day, our class embarked on a day trip to Mackinac Island, where we rode bikes around the island and saw more beautiful rocks. By this point, we knew how to run through mineral identification within sedimentary rocks. As the days continued, we traveled further north each day, encountering more new types of rocks: igneous, metamorphic, and combinations of both! We were able to physically touch and climb on many of the rocks, and while we didn’t know it at the time, we were learning at a very quick rate because we were physically involved with our subject matter. By the third day, we didn’t need Dr. Dean to instruct us on anything as we exited the vans at each outcrop. We knew how to effectively observe and hypothesize ideas about how each rock was formed. While we didn’t know every bit of fancy geological language, we understood what we were seeing.
When we weren’t learning about rock formations, we adventured around our campsites, built fires, attempted to cook, and watched the stars. We took advantage of the lakeside campsites, swimming whenever possible (regardless of how cold it was). By the end of the trip, we had all—some better than others—grown to know one another. Many of my friends from the trip felt confident heading into freshman orientation because they had friends going in.
Once the semester started, I enjoyed Tuesday geology classes. Someone brought donuts each week, and since we’d spent a week together in the woods, our class (and professor) could reminisce on our inside jokes and silly memories from the trip.
From an academic standpoint, our learning in the field made learning in the classroom digestible and more engaging. I wish I had this type of opportunity with all of my courses!
If someone were on the fence about signing up for this trip, I would encourage them to not overthink it. Although you’ll have to end your summer slightly early, the ten-day camping trip is totally worth it! You’ll be able to make friends with others who are in the same boat as you.
First-year students interested in Michigan Rocks can reach out to the Geology department with any questions or click here for more information.