netlogx continues to focus on team members’ well-being constantly. This year of 2021, netlogx team members were challenged to do something positive for their life or others’ lives. I chose to do both.
The positive activity I engaged in was volunteering as a Staff Member for Summer Field Studies (SFS), which is a program that exposes high school students to the Great Outdoors through a two-week hiking, rock climbing, camping, and white-water rafting trip to participate in new experiences out West. In 2020, the program ultimately decided to not host the trip that year. Therefore, getting back into nature in June was freeing, in many ways.
After accepting a full-time, remote position with netlogx in June of 2020, I found myself looking at a computer screen way more than expected as an incoming human resource professional. SFS is something I always look forward to since I went twice as a high school student. Giving back to the program that gave so much to me, my life, and my faith has always been a priority. You can imagine the disappointment (but understanding) I felt when I learned the 2020 trip would not come to fruition.
Fast forward a year, and I can happily announce the 2021 trip, my sixth time on the trip, was a success! Students from two Indianapolis high schools participated in all the amazing activities I did as a student. From white water rafting to hiking in Durango, Colorado to venturing out to other national parks, like Zion and Arches, it was like 2020 had never happened. The joy going on this past trip brought me is comparable to none. Watching the students develop and being a part of that process was so uplifting.
Not only was the company great, but the views were just as spectacular! From Crater Lake to Purgatory, the hikes brought a serene feeling of what was truly important in my life. The fresh alpine air cleared my head of any doubts, fears, or concerns. SFS 2021 was pertinent to mental well-being as well as my physical well-being. After the rut we all were put into in 2020, it was liberating to be out in open spaces again. I constantly caught myself starting off into the distance at all the trees and mountains surrounding me, fixated on the fact that it had been so long since I had seen them.
The one activity that brought me the most joy and positivity was summitting Mount Elbert with 27 students and nine other staff members. Mount Elbert is the highest point in Colorado with a staggering elevation of 14,433 feet. The happiness of the students’ faces accomplishing this challenge was breathtaking – along with the views and hike up!
My gratitude towards netlogx for our amazing Paid Time Off allotment and to SFS for continuing to let me come back year after year is never ending. Positivity was spread throughout everyone those two weeks and I cannot say thank you enough!
