Jheanell West tackled a peak 3D Life Adventure

By Diane Daniel, Globe Correspondent, 08/18/02

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Jheanell West is the first to admit she didn't know what she was in for when she was awarded a monthlong trip with 3D Life Adventures (www.3dzone.org) of Alexandria, Va. She found 3D through the nonprofit Summer Search program (www.summersearch.org), which dispatches teenagers to a variety of places.

Her guidance counselor helped West apply to Summer Search, a process she said many kids avoid because "the interviews are kind of intense and real personal. They make you cry." West will be 16 this month and a junior at Brighton High. She lives in Roslindale.

As it turned out, West also cried several times throughout her four weeks with 3D — tears of fear, frustration, joy, and elation.

3D programs are designed to educate young people about nature and about cultural traditions (3D and Summer Search share some costs). West's trip, from late June to late July in the Carolinas, included several days of backpacking and some sea kayaking, with a mission of exploring plantation living, the Gullah Geechee culture, and the difference between coastal and mountain ecosystems.

"I was expecting it to be not so hard. I've never done anything like that," West said.

Three other Boston area teenagers — Jennifer Wu, 15, of Watertown; Christian Tschibelu, 15, of Roxbury; and Ben Copans, 15, of Swampscott — were on the same trip, along with one student from California and two from the Washington, D.C., area, and two guides.

After orientation the group headed out for three days of backpacking in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest. West's first feeling was, "I want to go home. . . . When we first went backpacking, I cried." She was afraid of the dark, didn't like the food, and wasn't accustomed to hiking, or being in the woods.

But then they reached the top of a mountain, "and we got to see other mountains. That was really beautiful. I'd never been on a mountain peak."

Their next stop was the Blue Ridge Wildlife Institute in Jonas Ridge, N.C., where they helped care for injured birds.

The group then left the countryside for Charleston, S.C., where they spent a day doing a ropes challenge course. "We were walking on a rope 500 feet up. I held on so hard. I was crying the whole time."

West cried again when she finished. "I was so happy. I thought, wow, I did it."

The next day they toured Drayton Hall, a 1738 plantation house, and later discussed slavery. "We talked about how people portray things differently depending on where they live," she said.

A kayaking trip followed, near Capers Island. "We kayaked all day. It was scary at first, but fun. We had some good waves."

Next the group visited St. Helena Island, where the Gullah Geechee people are descendants of West Africans. One day they helped out with office chores at the local community center; that night they were treated to dinner. "They produce most of their own food," West said. "We had some soul food — pinto beans, collard greens, and cornbread."

The most difficult leg of their journey came near the end, when they climbed 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell. "Even the guides said that was the hardest trail they'd ever hiked," she said.

At the summit, "we started jumping and screaming. We were the happiest people. We could look down and see everything we'd done and think, oh my God, I just did that."

The group had been given the task of researching a topic and giving a report at the end of the trip. West chose to examine the difference between spirituality and religion. "I think I'm more spiritual," she said. "And the trip helped me get in touch with myself."

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