“Go where?”, I asked my undergraduate advisor. 

“Gothic, Colorado,” he said. “The RMBL. It’ll help! Apply to be a coursework student.” It was 1982. I was a year away from graduating with a degree in Biology, and had no idea what to do with it. I took his advice and was accepted.  

Four months later, I stood in the loft of Oh-Be-Joyful cabin. Gothic Mountain loomed outside the window. The East River roared. The air was so crisp and clean. I fell in love with the place immediately. The next six weeks were transformative. I learned what it meant to “live” science and spend quality time among a community of brilliant scientists, to play on the fabulous Queens softball team, to sit atop a fourteener, and to come face to face with my authentic self. At the end of the summer, all I wanted was more summers in Gothic. Bobbie Peckarsky, renowned stream ecologist, gave me that chance when she offered me a position on her research team, the “Benthettes”. 

Never in my entire life had I worked and played so hard as I did that second summer; it was magical! Living and working in Gothic as a Benthette introduced me to the creative and challenging aspects of field research as well as what it means to be part of a collective dedicated to science and each other. After that summer, graduate school took me away. Over the next nine years, earning a Masters in Wildlife, marriage, two babies, and life in South Texas kept me busy, but Gothic was always calling. Sadly, I couldn’t envision how to return. But in 1992, Bobbi invited me back and guided me through the logistics of bringing along my husband, Steve Smith, four-year-old Alex, and two-year-old Jen! From 1992-2001, we lived in Hull Cabin; my husband taught classes and I was a Benthette again.  

It is immeasurable what those summers in Gothic gave to me and my family. I applied the lessons learned from being a Benthette to my career as a university instructor, academic advisor, and director of a mentoring program. For my family, Gothic was an escape to an environment where our daughters thrived and all of our lives were enriched with friendships and countless adventures. Through the hundreds of beautiful memories, and the people who became a second family for us, Gothic remains a vital part of our lives. 

-Article written by RMBL alumni, Tracy Smith

Tracy Symons Smith earned her BA in Biology from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas and her MS in Wildlife as well as her Secondary Teaching Credential in Biology at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. She taught introductory biology and student success courses at Texas A&M University, Kingsville for nine years before moving to Humboldt County, California. At Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt), she served as an academic advisor in the TRiO Student Support Services program supporting first generation students, particularly STEM majors, for ten years. Subsequent to that role, she established a peer mentoring program for incoming first-generation freshmen, which over the next ten years was expanded to serve all incoming first-year students, including transfers. She retired two years ago and is thoroughly enjoying life in Humboldt County with Steve and their two bloodhounds, Mingus and Ella. 

Photo: Bobbi Peckarsky and Alex Smith on Galena Summit in 1994. Courtesy of Tracy Symons Smith