Earth work
Working with plants, earth, and the elements is always an element of the New England Literature Program, especially since students spend their time living rustically and mostly outdoors. An annual, optional trip to a farm in Vermont also provides opportunity to create new connections to the earth, and a chance to explore the individual's relationship to it.
Students are always taught how to properly chop wood at NELP, and a few always forge deep connections with the exercise. Above, a student in 1987 reflects on the act, noting that, as they splinter the log further and further, "the skin on my hand where the palm meets the fingers is worn away in three neat patches." Below, in 2002, not much has changed: "The physicality of work felt: muscles, breathing, and rough hands."
Journal entry from student on NELP 2002 describing their experience chopping wood. Typed and reprinted in that year's student anthology. From the NELP Archives at the Bentley Historical Library.
A student in 1978 reflects upon the annual NELP trip to a farm in Vermont: "None of us had realized what a hard, time-consuming job planting was."
Student journal entry from 1978 describing planting a garden with NELP co-director Alan Howes. Typed and reprinted in that year's student anthology. From the NELP Archives at the Bentley Historical Library.