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As the class wandered into the heart of the red rock canyon, the sun beating down on them, the intense heat surrounding the students as they walked the sandy path. Despite the heat, the canyon’s natural beauty fascinated the group.
On Monday, May 13, Ben Cox’s English 1010 class took a trip to Capitol Reef National Park. The class hiked the Grand Wash Trail, and to add some more school-like activity, we listened to the audiobook “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi on the bus ride and for the second half of the hike.
“So, this all came together rather quickly and late,” said Cox. “The idea for the hike came from students to go to Capitol Reef. It is a great idea because it’s close enough to us that we can do it in a day. And the second part that got me sold on it was listening to the book in that powerful environment, which was also a student idea.”
“When Breath Becomes Air” is a non-fiction autobiographical book written mainly by American neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi and was finished by a colleague and his wife. It is a memoir about his life and battling stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. It was published about a year after his death.
I loved the book for many reasons. One was that it was Kalanithi’s story, and he had studied English, so it was written very well. He tells his story through high school, college, medical school, his diagnosis, his battle with cancer, and then his wife finishes the book with his end. But my favorite part of the book was that he talks a lot about the values of life, what you care about, and how you will use your time.
“A lot of it was written by Paul, even though he’s dead,” said senior Gracie Kjar. “It was like he was talking like I could see him. I liked the picture of him in the back of the book; I was imagining him speaking. So, in the end, it was very sad when it was his wife writing. It’s just that it was such a real book to me.”
Some students, including me, loved the book, but others liked the hike and being outdoors more than the book.
“I just like going in the outdoors and being in nature, so Capitol Reef did that,” said senior Tanner Sorensen.
And with the hike and book, there were many other fun moments worth discussing.
Sorensen mentioned that one of his favorite parts was eating the pies. The class stopped at the Gifford Homestead in the park to purchase them. Kjar mentioned that one of her favorite parts was the lunch. She had planned a magnificent lunch with homemade sourdough bread for sandwiches.
“I think it was just a beautiful environment; it was a great opportunity to get out of the classroom and to listen to the book and think about the concepts in the book, along with the hike – I thought was fantastic,” Cox said, “Except for trying to listen on the bus ride home, and everyone was exhausted, including me.”
Cox hopes to make this an annual tradition.
“We would make a few changes to how much of the book we listen to, but to be in that environment and think about the concepts of the book, it doesn’t get better,” Cox said. “It is powerful.”
