At WCC, Fall Breaks Are Opportunities to Experience “God’s First Book” in All Its Glory

As noted in the past, the Fall and Spring Break activities of Wyoming Catholic College’s students are exceedingly unusual when compared to many of their counterparts in American higher education. For most college students, these weeks are opportunities to push back from the book-laden desk and rest (or party?) for a bit. Here in Lander, however, our students are neither resting nor partying, spending their time deep in a different kind of book. To quote briefly from the College’s Philosophical Vision Statement:

As Scripture says, “From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator” (Wisdom 13:5). Commenting on this verse, Pope John Paul II explained: “This is to recognize as a first stage of divine Revelation the marvelous ‘book of nature,’ which, when read with the proper tools of human reason, can lead to knowledge of the Creator” (Fides et Ratio 19). Wyoming Catholic College is committed to reading, not only God’s “second book,” the Holy Bible, but also his “first book,” the book of nature.

This year’s Fall Break features eighteen trips, and includes one hundred seventy-one students, and sixteen members of the College’s faculty and staff. Trip descriptions include Desert Backpacking (in Utah), a “14ers/Via Ferrata” trek (in Colorado), Mountaineering (also in Colorado), Horsepacking in the Winds (in the College’s own backyard, the Wind River Range), two Multi-Adventure groups in Moab (Utah), Packrafting and Canoeing through Labyrinth Canyon (in Utah), a “Learn to Whitewater Kayak” course (on the Green River( Mountain Biking (in Colorado and Utah), three Rock Climbing groups (in St. George and Maple Canyon, Utah) and three Canyoneering groups (in one of the students’ favorite venues, Zion National Park, Utah).

And as yet another reminder of the uniqueness of Wyoming Catholic College and its students, there is a Latin Immersion Week being held in Sinks Canyon State Park, where participants will converse entirely in Latin (with assistance from the College’s Latin professors).