Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Highland.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am a freelance writer, teacher, and mountain athlete. I grew up in Maine and was interested in writing from the very beginning–I have been keeping a journal regularly since I was 7. I got my Bachelor’s in Creative Nonfiction Writing at Northwestern University and my Master’s in Education at DU. My interest in outdoor education and outdoor writing were both kindled on a semester course I did with NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) in New Zealand in 2012.
I’ve been writing for outdoor publications such as Backcountry Magazine, The Ski Journal, WildSnow.com, Teton Gravity Research, the NOLS blog, the Deuter Blog, and Outdoor Women’s Alliance since 2014. My first book, Out Here: Wisdom from the Wilderness is coming out September 29th from Rocky Mountain Books! It’s a compilation of new & previously published essays that explores what the wilderness has to teach us about the human experience, using outdoor endeavors as extended metaphors for greater truths. Many of them take place all over Colorado–from a medical emergency during the Grand Traverse (a 40-mile ski race), to learning to adapt to the circumstances on the Colorado Trail, to trusting the process on a mountain bike trip in Crested Butte. I’m so excited to share this book with my Colorado community!
During the day, I am a fourth-grade teacher and outdoor educator. I work at a school that puts a heavy focus on experiential learning–our philosophy is to get students tackling real-world problems through hands-on learning! We engage in semester-long thematic learning units that allow them to dive into major issues like land use, JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion), water quality, climate change, etc., and work with experts and do day and overnight field studies. I love teaching because it gives me the opportunity to support kids in their development and help shape the next generation!
When I’m not teaching 4th grade and taking my students outside, I am usually backcountry skiing, trail running, mountain biking or, backpacking. I am a particular fan of long-distance sufferfests. I completed my first 50-mile ultramarathon last fall, and have spent the summer running the 175-mile Tahoe Rim Trail in 16-33 mile sections. Every good adventure is best capped off with a dip in an alpine lake!
Has it been a smooth road?
I have been enormously privileged in so many ways to get where I am today. There have been struggles, but I acknowledge that I was spared many by my access to education, connections in the industry, and support from my family along the way.
As a writer, one of the biggest struggles is facing rejection on a regular basis. I have had essays turned down by publications far more times than they’ve been accepted, and you have to just work on accepting that as part of the process rather than taking it personally. I finished my book in 2017 and it took two full years of submitting queries and proposals to agents and publishing houses to get it accepted. I’ve tried to look at it from the perspective of rejections being a good thing–if I’m getting pieces rejected, it means I’m trying. It means I’m putting my work out there. Being willing to persevere in the face of rejection, believing whole-heartedly that it will happen, and being patient are massively important in succeeding in the publishing industry.
In terms of my career in education, I think patience is also a huge factor. I got my Master’s from DU in 2015 and then spent three years working in Denver Public Schools. I loved so many things about my job in DPS–I got to teach in a bilingual English-Spanish classroom and work with incredible children and families, but I knew from the beginning that I wanted to work in a more experiential/outdoor setting. I applied to jobs every year after I graduated from DU, but it took a few years for the right opportunity to pop up. It didn’t happen as quickly as I would have liked, but the teaching experience I gained in the years I was in DPS was invaluable and supported my successful transition to my current school.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I write to process my life, and I write to hopefully be able to speak to experiences that are relatable to others. When I write in my journal, that’s for me–that helps me work through things I’m struggling with, remember the details of my life, and track my own progress with things I’m working on. When I publish essays, I’m writing in the hopes that it will speak to people, that it will describe a way they’ve felt using new words, that it will help someone through something.
Through spending a good deal of both my personal and professional life outside, I’ve realized that there’s no better arena for understanding universal concepts in life than the outdoors. I’ve become a hunter of what I call “wild metaphors”– experiences or situations in the outdoors that map onto things we go through in our lives. Using an unstable persistent weak layer in the snowpack as a metaphor for an unhealthy relationship, or having to let go of one hold to reach for the next one in climbing as a metaphor for taking the big leaps we need to in our lives and careers. Making connections between thematically related concepts is something I do without even thinking about it, so converting these into essays feels natural.
I’m most proud of being able to write things that people can relate to. My favorite moments are when someone reaches out, even people I don’t know personally, to let me know that something I’ve written has spoken to them or helped them through something they’re dealing with. Those are the moments I write for–and that are worth more to me than what I get paid to publish pieces.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
There are so many things I love about Golden! I love having easy access to trails for running and biking and crags for climbing. I love having so many awesome breweries and food trucks around town–although that can sometimes be dangerous for the wallet! I think the toughest things for me were how crowded things got in terms of traffic, and not being as close to skiing as I would have liked.
Pricing:
- Out Here: Wisdom from the Wilderness $20 https://rmbooks.com/book/out-here/
Contact Info:
- Website: www.carolynhighland.com
- Email: c.highland29@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c_highland/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cph1229
Image Credit:
Misty Knight, Joe Connolly, Will Earley
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