The Collegian

Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Dylan Ewers, Emily Holsclaw Seniors Roger Pattison (above, left) and Dylan Ewers plan to take a two-year excursion across the continent after graduation, stopping to work as ski instructors, ranch hands and maybe even English teachers. Emily Holsclaw '07 (below) works as a flight attendant so she can travel and meet people.

While most members of the class of 2008 will scatter across the country in preparation for various jobs and educational opportunities this summer, seniors Dylan Ewers and Roger Pattison will continue their study of the liberal arts as they wander North America in a 6-by-12 metal trailer with shag carpet and camouflage green paint.

"We figure it's the one chance that we have to go out with no strings attached - no girlfriends, no responsibilities - and kind of see what's out there," Ewers said of their planned two-year expedition that will take them all the way from Alaska to Mexico. "In a sense it's what we want to do, what we should do, and it's the perfect time to do it."

Although the schedule is tentative at best, the two men plan to drive to Alaska shortly after graduation to work in the salmon industry until the end of the season. From there they'll move to Banff, Canada, to work as ski instructors or lift attendants in one of Banff's several ski resorts.

The next six-month stop will be either as ranch hands in Wyoming or vineyard caretakers in California, Ewers said. And if the men still have an appetite for drifting, they'll head into Mexico or possibly Costa Rica to teach English.

The money they earn at each stop should enable them to eat, pay off loans and get to their next destination. Hopefully they'll even save a little, Ewers said.

But Ewers and Pattison aren't the only soon-to-be Hillsdale grads who consider unconventional jobs worth the risk if it means they can travel.

Emily Holsclaw '07, who now works as a flight attendant for SkyWest Airlines, said even though her job requires unusual hours and last-minute schedule changes, it's worth the opportunity to travel and meet interesting people.

"At first, the toughest part was getting domiciled in Denver, where I knew virtually no one," she said in an e-mail to The Collegian. "It was scary for me to pick up everything and move in just four days to a strange city. Now, the toughest part is probably the rather sporadic schedule. I just have to constantly be flexible."

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