Backpacking Essentials for All Walks of Life

In this episode we touch on Indigo's journey and what led her to backpacking. We discuss her future goals for her students and how she sees that helping them in their lives. Indigo is connecting with uncomfortable conversations in a beautiful way. Raised in Colorado and Virginia, J. Indigo Eriksen earned her BA in Environmental Studies from Lewis & Clark College before moving to Guatemala and Mexico. She received her MFA from Mills College and MA in Comparative Literature from San Francisco State University. A doctoral candidate at George Mason University in Virginia, Indigo’s research looks at strategies for dismantling white supremacy in college composition. She is Associate Professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College. Indigo previously served on the TYCA-SE REC as the Membership Chair for 2016-2019. Her creative work has appeared in the Texas Review Press (forthcoming, 2022), District Fray (July 2020), The Northern Virginia Review, Scratching Against the Fabric, Endlessly Rocking, and TYCA-SE Journal.  Indigo was a 2021 The Inner Loop Writer-in-Residence at the Woodlawn Pope-Leighey House and recipient of the 2019 Mary Roberts Rinehart prize in nonfiction from GMU. She learned to backpack at the age of 30. Indigo is a dedicated whiskey drinker. IG: @violet_on_the_inside Please see make sure to check out the GofundMe and the message from my wonderful guest below.  https://gofund.me/dae68986 I've applied for a DEI InNOVAtion Grant, am in conversation with REI to collaborate, and will be interviewed tonight about learning to backpack when I turned 30 and how hiking and backpacking has turned into vital self-care, but I need your help raising funds to create a pilot backpacking program for community college students. Our focus with the pilot is women, trans, and nonbinary students, with preference going to BIPOC students. But I have bigger dreams and hope that this pilot will turn into an on-going program that expands access to wild spaces to community college students who have historically been denied safe, affordable, compassionate access to the outdoors. From $5 to $500, your support will go a long way. Be sure to follow me on IG @sukishoneydoproject.Be sure to follow us on all our social medias - Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, Youtube, and our website: www.slashersports.com Don't forget your SlasherSports merch! We have tee shirts, tank tops, mugs, and more! You can Follow the Slasher Sports team on Twitter  @rauhreport @80suburbia @feklesswonder @SlasherCinemaBG https://linktr.ee/slashersports