HH
Hyla Howe
  • biology
  • Class of 2018
  • Lancaster, Pa.

Hyla Howe spends semester at Paul Smith's College living in Mongolian yurt

2015 Nov 10

Hyla Howe of Lancaster, Pa., hasn't see much of her Paul Smith's College dorm room this semester. On most nights, Howe has left the warmth and comfort of the dorms behind for a lifestyle lacking heat, electricity and running water.

Howe, a sophomore majoring in biology, is one of seven Paul Smith's students choosing to spend much of the fall semester living in authentic Mongolian Yurts - tiny portable tent-like structures crafted from wood and canvas - alongside Osgood Pond, on the outskirts of the campus in the heart of New York's Adirondack Mountains.

While many colleges today lure students with on-campus living amenities that rival or exceed what they have at home, The Osgood Pond Semester provides Paul Smith's students the opportunity to re-examine our society's materialistic tendencies and foster a deeper awareness of their lifestyle and consumption choices, while learning through communal living, team building and outdoor recreation.

Along with two faculty members, the students make up a community unto themselves: four young women, and three young men, majoring in biology, environmental science, environmental studies, fisheries and wildlife science, and natural resource sustainability. They take a traditional course load on the Paul Smith's campus and earn three credits for the Osgood Pond program, with course pillars in homesteading, primitive skills, community development and expedition.