December Update: You Bring the Necessary Equipment

by Ariella Rogge on December 01

With the holiday season upon us, we want to share our gratitude for everything our campers, staff, camp families, alums, Board of Trustees and friends of camp do for us day in and day out…

You bring the necessary equipment.

What does that mean, you ask? It comes from a post that we saw on the socials this month. The post came from a Reykjavik community Facebook page and was concerned because, “it appeared a cygnet was frozen to the ice and dying. As people worried online about how or whether it would be possible to help, naturalist Kerstin Langerberger replied to the post, saying: “I am on my way with the necessary equipment.” Langenberger brought a friend, some thermoses of warm water, and a surfboard in case the ice failed - the necessary equipment - and thawed then freed the baby swan, which promptly flew off.”

The post continued: “There are a number of things I appreciate about this story, but it’s Langenberger’s statement that resonates for me. That is what I aspire to, to see injury or difficulty or something gone to trouble and decide: I am on my way with the necessary equipment. But also, to hold on to the understanding that sometimes the necessary equipment is the resolve to try and a friend who will help, and that sometimes I am the necessary equipment - the friend who shows up to make myself useful under the direction of an expert.”

They write: “There are a lot of moments these days that I find it very, very hard to do the next thing, or indeed to do anything. The world is so, so difficult. I often feel useless or overwhelmed or exhausted or just really (exceptionally) sad. But I am going to try starting the days by saying, with all the starch that I imagine a naturalist willing to chance the ice in darkness to save a baby bird might possess:

I am on my way with the necessary equipment.”

We appreciate everyone who is part of the Sanborn community because, in situations of celebration, motivation, challenge or duress, every single one of you asks yourself, “What can I do to help?” and arrives with both the literal, individual or inspirational “necessary equipment.”

Happy Holidays, one and all!

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Ariella Rogge
About Ariella Rogge

Ariella started her career at Sanborn when she was twelve. After five years of camper and five years of Sanborn staff experience, she continued her work with kids in the high school classroom. Ariella and her family returned to Sanborn in 2001 to take on the Program Director role which she held til 2012. She and Elizabeth Marable became co-directors of High Trails in 2013 and then Ariella became the High Trails Director in 2020. In the fall of 2022 she became the Director of Sanborn Western Camps, overseeing the director teams of both Big Spring and High Trails. She lists mountain golf, Gymkhana, climbing mountains and making Pad Thai in the backcountry as some of her favorite activities at camp. Ariella received a B.A. in English from Colorado College and is a certified secondary English educator,an ACCT Level 2 Ropes Course Technician, an ARC lifeguard and NREMT and WEMT. She lives in Florissant in the summer and in Green Mountain Falls during the school year so she can stay involved with the busy lives of her husband, Matt, and two sons, Lairden and Karsten.