The students here at Highlands Biological Station arrived a few weeks ago and have been settling into the new landscape, myself included. Because of the nature of our studies, our first few weeks have felt a bit like summer camp with a sprinkle of research, or maybe like one big sleepover, but as the semester starts to pick up, it has started to dawn on us that we’re really going to be living and working in Highlands for the next seventeen weeks. While we all love being here at the station, it can, surprisingly, be a bit tricky at times to feel at home when we’re sleeping in bunk beds and sharing a kitchen amongst sixteen people.
Highlands is not only home to us for the semester, but it’s home to countless species, both native and invasive, of plants and animals. Many of our independent research projects revolve around the trees, mammals, and insects all right here in the Southern Appalachians. My project is on the Blue Ridge Two-Lined Salamander, and a few times a week my partner and I spend a few hours searching for the seemingly elusive amphibian with little luck. It can be hard not to feel like you’re the invasive species when you’re crawling through the stream and cannot find the one and only thing you are looking for.
For some, or maybe just myself, it’s easy to feel a little homesick at times. Some of my peers are from these mountains, others from the other side of the state or country, and quite a few have even lived internationally. Wherever, or whoever, home may be for us, it can be daunting to imagine being away for so long. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pour our hearts into this place to make it feel like home right here in Highlands.
Maybe home for some of us is about countless movie nights, watching anything and everything from cartoons to The Princess Bride. Perhaps home for others is about rearranging and decorating the kitchen in the middle of the night to make the space more comfortable. Or maybe it’s about the puzzles, cake decorating, or getting excited about new music together. Along with building these friendships, home in Highlands for me has been about getting to know where I am and the people that live here.
A major aspect of our program is about being immersed in the Southern Appalachians and local environment. In our first week, we took a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and learned about the mosaic of communities within the park, some geologic history, as well as the damage that invasive species have done. I can confidently say that there is a special place in our hearts for Anakeesta rock after seeing it so many times. After classes, we sometimes go on walks through the forest, learning to identify the tulip poplar, white oak, and yellow birch amongst many more trees. Being able to identify the pieces of the world around you makes it personal, makes it more tangible than a rush of green outside your window as you drive by. On our weekends, we discover new places to hike, cliff jump, and try to pack all of us into one car to get ice cream at the gas station.
We’ve also spent quite a bit of time going to local community events and meeting the people of Highlands and the surrounding area. During our first week, we waved hello to countless people and their pups on their morning walks. We met the man who volunteers at the bookstore, and the people at the front desk at the gym. As we meet all of these people, we hear about their lives and what brought them here to Highlands, and this didn’t stop with our first week. We’ve gone to the Franklin Area Folk Festival, spent a day drawing and looking at photography at The Bascom, and love going to the concerts in town and at the park. Chances are, if a group of college students tried to learn how to line dance with you at one of these concerts, that was us. I love when folks approach us while we’re doing field work at the station, curious about why we’re carrying a large beaker full of stream water down the road. Getting to know everyone here makes us, or at least me, feel rooted in Highlands and makes it feel like we’re making a difference by being here.
No matter how we choose to do it, finding a sense of home in Highlands is essential for our program and our work in the Southern Appalachians. And maybe, just maybe, when you finally start making yourself at home, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for— a Blue Ridge Two-Lined Salamander.
-KH
