Clare Boerigter
Grinnell College
Clare Boerigter
Participant in the 2012 ACM Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study
Gusanos
Gusanos ("Worms" in Spanish) marries my three primary interests: Spanish, writing and the environment. A story told through the eyes of a photographer, "Gusanos" recounts an attempted first ascent of a mountain in South America, looks at the relationships of three climbers, and testifies to the harsh and unforgiving beauty of nature.
Developed for Grinnell's Craft of Fiction class, "Gusanos" draws strongly on Hopi spiritual and environmental traditions I was exposed to during my GRINNELLINK summer internship with Neil Weintraub, an archaeologist in the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona. Because of my interest in Latin America, I chose to make South America my setting and brought bits of Spanish into the text.
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At left: Video of Clare Boerigter's presentation about her story "Gusanos."
See also:
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Profile:
Post graduation plans: To explore! I want to travel (specifically the American West and Latin America) and write; I’m interested in pursuing writing internships with Sierra and Outside, working as a wildland firefighter, and teaching English in South America.
The best thing that I did while on an off-campus program was … climbing the Tepozteco mountain outside of Tepotzlán; I got an incredible view of the area, and after the hike, I got to explore Tepotzlán for a long afternoon.
What is one word or phrase that best describes your experience off-campus? Honeysuckle.
Top 3 reasons why you chose to go off-campus:
1. Language immersion.
2. Cultural experience.
3. Extreme curiosity.
If you woke up tomorrow as an animal, what would you be and why? A banana slug because they hang out on trees all day and move very slowly (besides looking really cool!).
If you could travel anywhere where would you go? Patagonia.
If you could learn to speak any language what would it be? Either flawless Spanish or French.