Tofino graduate credits family and community after receiving
$40K scholarship.
Riley Banks, seated and surrounded by family and board members signs the documents confirming him as the 2019 recipient of the annual Dick Close Scholarship. Photo credit: Andrew Bailey, Westerly News.
Update from Riley
December 2022
A path is a very special thing to locate for oneself, it may be turbulent, and it may be fraught with
dangers and things that you cannot expect. But it is still a journey that you walk, I’m proud to
say that I have found my path. As promised in my previous letter, I have for the first time finished
a semester with all B’s and C’s. To say that I am proud is an understatement. I know my journey
to this point has been anything but a straight path, so, from the bottom of my heart, I would like
to thank the Pacific Rim Foundation for sticking by me and believing that I could accomplish
something even with my rocky start. I look forward to the meetup that is planned for the future.
Aside from the more sentimental things I needed to clear the air with, I will get into the
proverbial “meat” of my last semester. It was very straight to the point and clean-cut, quite
frankly I would say boring, but that wouldn’t do it justice. In the same way someone might say
that reading a book is boring, or taking a walk through a forest is boring, my semester was truly
boring.
For the most part, I pretty well was either in school or at home and did not embark on any major
expeditions except for one hike for my Geology final project. I did go for one other expedition,
now that I think about it, but it resulted in me getting stuck on a mountaintop in the pitch black,
singing John Denver to keep myself from jumping out of my skin at any twig crack or breeze of
wind through the trees as I hiked out to the trailhead (fun fact, you can only sing Country Roads
so many times before it becomes less comforting and almost ominous). So, for the sake of
saving face, I will not mention it any further. Instead of adventures, I took this time to ground
myself and work on things that I have needed to for a while. As reading a book may not be an
exciting and a full physical experience, it can give you insight into yourself and although a
peaceful walk in the forest is not where you expect to find adventure, it energizes the soul. This
past semester I found peace, determination, and drive. 3 parts of myself that would have
seemed like a memory of a dream a year ago.
So, although I cannot report on finding new friends or having any out-of-the-ordinary experience
(aside from a certain not-to-be-named trial by country music) I can instead report on finding
myself. Which I am quite content with. I look forward to finishing up my last semester at
Camosun before moving onwards to Douglas College in New Westminster, where I only have a
year and a half left before I will be out into the world, hopefully, to continue on with my writing
hobby and finding myself in some new adventures. Gratitude is a strong thing, and I know this
semester's report is reading like a broken record with an overreliance on self-reflection and an
overuse of proverbs but I will state it again,
Thank you for supporting me during the last couple of years.
July 2021
The last time I checked in with the Pacific Rim foundation it was over a year ago, I’ll apologize in advance for being late with writing this but I wasn’t quite sure how to. Time is a funny thing, at times it may fly by like a leaf lost in a winter storm, or it may be as slow as a tortoise trudging through a mile of mud. During this last year I have had the pleasure of experiencing both of these phenomena. To put it bluntly it was one of the most adventurous and freeing years of my life even with the Coronavirus pandemic.
I’ll begin at the start of summer last year. To start off I was working part time with a local construction company framing up houses, although it was hard work I found a certain level of enjoyment with it and the comradery that I had with the other workers. Along with construction, I also worked with a wedding planner and I have to say I have developed a brand new respect for the sheer insanity that is working behind the scenes of a wedding event. There were days that I would work 13 hours and see the entire wedding through from set up, to ceremony, to take down. It was a truly unique experience as it was always changing, with no two weddings ever being even remotely the same. The true mystery of working with the weddings was that no matter how bad everything was going behind the scenes, no matter how much of an insane tornado of stuff breaking, things not working and a symphony of other issues there were, it always worked out.
Although the job front of the summer was an interesting experience on its own, the adventure side of last summer is where I found the most excitement. During July I found myself roped into the Tofino Museum as a one man expeditionary force. At the start of the month I coordinated with Clayoquot Wilderness Resort to obtain an “O.K” to use their moorage services at the head of Bedwell inlet. For those who don’t know, Bedwell Inlet is a historic mining area of Vancouver Island and even saw its own minor gold rush during the mid to late 1800’s. The area is largely inaccessible for artifact collecting and documentation as going through Strathcona Park would be a mission for only a select few of strong willed bush rats. The area is comparable to getting through a wooden wall using only a spoon and determination, due to how overgrown the Bedwell area is. I went on two different expeditions into the area, the first one almost killed a friend of mine (as it turns out when I think of a “hike” it’s generally not the status quo). The poor guy was in such rough shape (and mad with me, I guess), that he left my house the morning after we got back without even saying goodbye! It took around 8 months but we’ve started talking again and he’s told me outright that he doesn’t blame me for it. The entire hike just made it seem that Bedwell Inlet had it out for us. The second mission I went on was much less eventful. I was able to track down one of the mines and get some excellent pictures of the area. However the main prize of mine carts and a much larger mine rumored to be farther up the river still eludes me.
To cap the summer off I embarked on two different mountain climbing trips. The first, was a summit of Triple Peak (which is just adjacent to 5040), to prepare myself for the second mission. The largest mountain on Vancouver Island, Golden Hinde, a true spectacle of beauty that lies deep within Strathcona Park. My summit of triple peak was uneventful compared to the adventure that awaited me with Golden Hinde. The recommended trip time for Golden Hinde is 5 days in the Vancouver Island trail guide. My party did it in 4.
My party’s start of Golden Hinde was something that most would laugh at (myself included), at the time I definitely thought it was idiotic. Our party consisted of 3 people, my father, myself, and my dad's friend Scotty. We left the parking lot at the southern end of Buttle Lake during the tail end of a week of torrential rain and wind that had struck the island in late August. As we were heading in we passed by plenty of people that were coming out of the trek to the mountain. None of them had been successful in summiting as they were rained out or had been injured. There was one lady and her party we met on the way in who had the misfortune of having a large rock break loose and strike her in the side of the leg. Lucky for her it didn't break the leg but it had seriously injured it. I cannot commend this person enough as she had climbed and limped well over 20 Km to get out. After seeing all of these beaten hikers who were much better equipped than us with ropes, climbing axes, helmets and more. I can confidently say I had a certain fear growing in myself that you only get from knowing that you are about to put yourself through a very difficult ordeal, and difficult ordeal it certainly was.
The first day we pushed through from the parking lot all the way to Carter Lake. Some highlights of this day are that it was so foggy we had about a 30 foot visibility that made our map useless so we relied off of stone cairns and a GPS with spotty service. It was also raining so hard that the “chimney” you have to climb down further up the hike had a small waterfall going through it. Also the one spot we were planning on camping at for the night had already been taken. It wasn’t all bad, as we had some good laughs at how stupid we were for attempting this absolute crusade of chaos. By the time we made it to the other camping spot at Carter Lake our party was in rough shape. Scotty was so cold and wet he was shivering, I was about to pass out from exhaustion and my father wasn’t fairing much better. The icing on the cake of this entire endeavor was that due to the rains the lake had flooded and submerged the usual camp site. We ended up pitching our tents on the one bit of flat ground we could find, which had a small stream running beside it.
That night was truly unpleasant, I woke up to go to the bathroom and my entire body cramped to the point that I could not sit up, so I was forced to crawl out of the tent and through the mud that circled us. Poor Scotty fared the worst, the stream that flowed beside us dammed up during the night and diverted right through his tent. The next morning we awoke tired, wet, and fairly beaten down. We slept in and tried to get our belongings to dry in the wind during some of the weather breaks but we didn't have much luck. Regardless of our situation, we packed up and continued on. The greatest irony of the entire situation was that at the other end of Carter lake there was a beautiful campsite that was high and dry but also unmarked on our map, so we had a good chuckle at that. We continued on to Schjelderup Lake with little issue. By this time the rain had cleared but the clouds remained. From Schjelderup Lake to Burman Lake at the base of Golden Hinde we encountered my old friend, the freezing rain. Looking up from just past Schjelderup to the pass we needed to take was beautiful in the most terrifying way. Before us lay a large barren, smooth, rock ledge that dropped to a valley bottom below, on the other side a sheer wall of granite. We made it through and got to the upper ridge, from here it was all downhill to the base camp of Burman Lake. That night at the base camp was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. For the first time in two days, I saw the stars and clear sky. A warm dry breeze picked up and we stayed up late that night telling stories and laughing about our situation. It was as if the mountain was rewarding us for making it this far.
The next morning we awoke, well rested, dry and content (as I’ve been running with this story for quite some time I’ll try to wrap it up here). That day after more trials, tribulations, and getting lost because our GPS had the winter ice route and not the summer route. We summited. Against all odds, where smarter people had turned back, we had pushed through and before us lay the surveyor maker that proudly displayed that we were on the ceiling of Vancouver Island. After a long 10 hour day we returned to camp, content. We celebrated that night and watched the stars, knowing we had beaten the mountain. The trip out had its fair share of trials, we decided that from the base camp we would push out and do it in one day. We awoke on a beautiful sunny day, aware that no matter how bad the hike out was, it couldn't be worse than what we experienced days before. From here 14 hours of beautiful mountain range and stunning views we got back to our camper in the parking lot. As it turns out, once you hit Philip’s Ridge you can see Golden Hinde for the entire hike. It's probably a good thing we didn’t see it because seeing that ominous snow topped rock looked like staring at a beast of nature, even when walking out. We arrived tired and sore from our ordeal, but full of pride as we did what others could not, with nowhere near the right gear. As we walked back to the camper Scotty stopped us and told us he had something to admit, apparently he was ashamed because he had eaten an entire Toblerone chocolate bar that he had brought for us all to share on the first night. We had a good laugh as we couldn't blame him for it after the hell that was the first day, but for the record I’m still upset he didn't share it!
After summer I started work at Creative Salmon, I worked there from September all the way till February. During this time I went on an amazing hunt with my family. Had plenty of other small adventures, and managed to go on multiple ski trips with my friends. However in late January I started feeling the call of adventure. Back in November I had purchased an old worn down camper from a man in Ucluelet for next to nothing. So in late January I fixed up this old camper, gave my resignation and spent the entire month and some days living up Mt. Washington. I met some incredible people, got the pleasure of seeing a professional fire spinner give a show in the middle of a snow storm which was something to truly behold. I also had some other adventures, I drove to the top of Vancouver Island to Port Hardy. I drove all the way out to Holberg along a horrendous logging road. I got my truck so horribly stuck it took me 5 hours to dig it out of a snow ditch. Also so many other adventures. At the tail end of my mountain excursion I went down to Victoria and acquired my Marine Captains ticket and all the other required paperwork. As fate would have it, my nickname in high school ended up being what I got certified in! From the end of March to currently when I’m writing this in early June I’ve had lots of other adventures and am gearing up to run whale watching boats this summer. This past year I have been able to take some time and really get excited about going back to school. As horrible as the pandemic is, it allowed me to reflect and to do what I love, I also got to know myself better a lot better.
This past year has been very comparable to my trip up Golden Hinde. When I moved home from Victoria during the first lockdown when the campus kicked us out I was at my very worst, I felt like I had failed everyone and myself. My school year had rocketed by like a runaway train and I had to face the mistakes that had led me to that point. Much like my climb up the mountain, the first part back was the hardest. But if this year, just like Golden Hinde, has shown me anything, it's that although things may seem downright unbearable they always get better. My plan going forward is to move back to Victoria and attend Camosun to re-attack engineering, it's still a field that I’m very passionate about. Since Camosun stretches out their year into a 10 month course for first year I can confidently say that I am excited to go back and I know that I can do better this time and succeed. Every engineer I have talked to recommends doing what my plan is as they all say the first year is the hardest. So as I sit and write this I can look back and realize that although my first year at UVIC did not go as planned, I was just one part of the journey and that I’ll be able to do great when I go back to school this fall.
January 2020
What does it mean to be burnt out? It's a question that lots of people need to ask themselves at one point or another in their lifetime. Well I can say for certain that I understand what it means to be burnt out. I arrived at University tired, summer had flown by like a bird in a hurricane and I had spent my last high school break working 50 hours a week on night shifts all summer long, I was tired.
But I’m not one to give up, or the type of person who realizes they are in over their head so I figured I would do what I have done for most of my life and simply put my head down and power through, no matter how difficult it may get. Well I was in engineering and I had foolishly decided that I would take 6 courses for my first semester away from home because that's what the university suggests you should take so you can graduate on time (not factoring in any other course schedule possibilities). It took me a couple weeks until I realized I may be getting myself into a bit of a sticky situation, so I dropped one of my two math courses so I could focus on the rest of my course load and have an easier go at things. However, I was already starting off the climb ahead with loose footing and it soon became apparent that I had bitten off far more than I could chew, but it was too late. I found myself in a blur with each passing week I fell farther and farther behind and no matter how hard I seemed to try and push forward I couldn’t, because of this my grades suffered and I found myself in a position where I had failed 3 of the 5 courses I had taken.
However, as bad as my academics were there was a lot of silver linings to the university experience. In the first week alone I met more people my age than I have known my entire life, I met new friends, new people, had some great laughs and some unforgettable experiences and because of these experiences I only look back at my first semester with happiness and as a time where I learned a lot about myself. So, where do I find myself now? I find myself looking forward to my next semester at university, I’ve decided to take 4 courses and spend more time taking care of myself and enjoying the university experience more instead of looking at is as just one more box that I need to check off to reach my goals.
So, in the end I did end up in a position that I was not ready for, but after learning from the mistakes I made and what I need to do to not repeat them going forward, I can confidently say that I am ready, prepared, and excited for my next semester
[The following article was written by Andrew Bailey and published by the Westerly News]
Riley Banks’ family filled Tofino’s council chambers to watch the 17-year-old West Coast graduate’s passion for helping others rewarded with a $40,000 scholarship.
Banks was announced as the Pacific Rim Foundation’s annual Dick Close Scholarship’s eleventh recipient by the foundation’s present Gary Marks on June 25.
“I am particularly proud that this year’s award goes to a young man who has been inquisitive and engaged from the first moment that he walked into my kindergarten classroom,” an emotional Marks said through tears.
He noted Banks is a well known compassionate ear for his peers to confide in and had dove head first into a diverse range of local job opportunities, volunteered with Pacific Rim Hospice and Tofino Salmon Enhancement Society and created a program to offer tech support to West Coast seniors.
“As Fred Rodgers said, ‘Look for the helpers.’ Riley is that and more. His volunteer efforts are evidence of a dedicated, generous and kind heart and his academic pursuits are proof of an open and keen mind,” Marks said. “Riley’s abilities and accomplishment have shown in his young life a strong character and a sense of purpose. He is a person who is invested in making the world a better place through a life of purpose.”
After the presentation, Riley celebrated with his family outside the municipal hall.
“We’re just so proud of him,” his grandmother Phyllis told the Westerly News.
“He worked really hard for it. He sacrificed a lot of spare time for his grades and for helping other people. I’m just so proud of him. You couldn’t ask for a better son,” added his father Dan.
Mother Karyn Bernard said Riley’s thoughtfulness was inherent at a young age.
“He was the kind of child that would sit and ponder things and think things through and had a love of books,” she said adding support from his family and community helped Riley channel those qualities into a robust passion for making positive impacts.
“He’s been a well supported boy throughout his life by his entire family and well supported by both the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet as well…It really does take a community to raise children and we’re so fortunate and so blessed here on the West Coast to live in such a dynamic place and such a healthy environment and it really just fosters and nurtures the growth of our children.”
Riley told the Westerly that having his family behind him at the announcement illustrated the elements that had led to the event.
“If you’ve ever walked down a beach and turned around at a certain point to see your footprints behind you, that’s what it was like,” he said. “I could see everything that’s brought me to the point that I am now. Seeing everyone that’s helped me and supported me through all the different experiences.”
He has been accepted into the University of Victoria’s computer engineering program, but said he would not forget his West Coast roots and would return to the community often.
“I would not be here and I would not be the person I am without my community,” he said.
The Pacific Rim Foundation’s $40,000 scholarship was created by longtime West Coast resident Dick Close, who remained anonymous as its benefactor until his death in 2016.
Marks said Close’s motivation with the scholarship was to create an incentive for young families to stay in the community and encourage youth to make a positive impact.
“Central to the scholarship was the idea that the recipient would be a person who was invested in making the world a better place through a life lived with purpose,” he said. “This scholarship would celebrate the idea of service to others…We celebrate their volunteerism and contributions to others and their determination to make a difference in a world faced with increasing and great challenges,”
The foundation recently announced the scholarship’s endowment fund has been transferred to the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust to be managed and invested.
December 2022
A path is a very special thing to locate for oneself, it may be turbulent, and it may be fraught with
dangers and things that you cannot expect. But it is still a journey that you walk, I’m proud to
say that I have found my path. As promised in my previous letter, I have for the first time finished
a semester with all B’s and C’s. To say that I am proud is an understatement. I know my journey
to this point has been anything but a straight path, so, from the bottom of my heart, I would like
to thank the Pacific Rim Foundation for sticking by me and believing that I could accomplish
something even with my rocky start. I look forward to the meetup that is planned for the future.
Aside from the more sentimental things I needed to clear the air with, I will get into the
proverbial “meat” of my last semester. It was very straight to the point and clean-cut, quite
frankly I would say boring, but that wouldn’t do it justice. In the same way someone might say
that reading a book is boring, or taking a walk through a forest is boring, my semester was truly
boring.
For the most part, I pretty well was either in school or at home and did not embark on any major
expeditions except for one hike for my Geology final project. I did go for one other expedition,
now that I think about it, but it resulted in me getting stuck on a mountaintop in the pitch black,
singing John Denver to keep myself from jumping out of my skin at any twig crack or breeze of
wind through the trees as I hiked out to the trailhead (fun fact, you can only sing Country Roads
so many times before it becomes less comforting and almost ominous). So, for the sake of
saving face, I will not mention it any further. Instead of adventures, I took this time to ground
myself and work on things that I have needed to for a while. As reading a book may not be an
exciting and a full physical experience, it can give you insight into yourself and although a
peaceful walk in the forest is not where you expect to find adventure, it energizes the soul. This
past semester I found peace, determination, and drive. 3 parts of myself that would have
seemed like a memory of a dream a year ago.
So, although I cannot report on finding new friends or having any out-of-the-ordinary experience
(aside from a certain not-to-be-named trial by country music) I can instead report on finding
myself. Which I am quite content with. I look forward to finishing up my last semester at
Camosun before moving onwards to Douglas College in New Westminster, where I only have a
year and a half left before I will be out into the world, hopefully, to continue on with my writing
hobby and finding myself in some new adventures. Gratitude is a strong thing, and I know this
semester's report is reading like a broken record with an overreliance on self-reflection and an
overuse of proverbs but I will state it again,
Thank you for supporting me during the last couple of years.
July 2021
The last time I checked in with the Pacific Rim foundation it was over a year ago, I’ll apologize in advance for being late with writing this but I wasn’t quite sure how to. Time is a funny thing, at times it may fly by like a leaf lost in a winter storm, or it may be as slow as a tortoise trudging through a mile of mud. During this last year I have had the pleasure of experiencing both of these phenomena. To put it bluntly it was one of the most adventurous and freeing years of my life even with the Coronavirus pandemic.
I’ll begin at the start of summer last year. To start off I was working part time with a local construction company framing up houses, although it was hard work I found a certain level of enjoyment with it and the comradery that I had with the other workers. Along with construction, I also worked with a wedding planner and I have to say I have developed a brand new respect for the sheer insanity that is working behind the scenes of a wedding event. There were days that I would work 13 hours and see the entire wedding through from set up, to ceremony, to take down. It was a truly unique experience as it was always changing, with no two weddings ever being even remotely the same. The true mystery of working with the weddings was that no matter how bad everything was going behind the scenes, no matter how much of an insane tornado of stuff breaking, things not working and a symphony of other issues there were, it always worked out.
Although the job front of the summer was an interesting experience on its own, the adventure side of last summer is where I found the most excitement. During July I found myself roped into the Tofino Museum as a one man expeditionary force. At the start of the month I coordinated with Clayoquot Wilderness Resort to obtain an “O.K” to use their moorage services at the head of Bedwell inlet. For those who don’t know, Bedwell Inlet is a historic mining area of Vancouver Island and even saw its own minor gold rush during the mid to late 1800’s. The area is largely inaccessible for artifact collecting and documentation as going through Strathcona Park would be a mission for only a select few of strong willed bush rats. The area is comparable to getting through a wooden wall using only a spoon and determination, due to how overgrown the Bedwell area is. I went on two different expeditions into the area, the first one almost killed a friend of mine (as it turns out when I think of a “hike” it’s generally not the status quo). The poor guy was in such rough shape (and mad with me, I guess), that he left my house the morning after we got back without even saying goodbye! It took around 8 months but we’ve started talking again and he’s told me outright that he doesn’t blame me for it. The entire hike just made it seem that Bedwell Inlet had it out for us. The second mission I went on was much less eventful. I was able to track down one of the mines and get some excellent pictures of the area. However the main prize of mine carts and a much larger mine rumored to be farther up the river still eludes me.
To cap the summer off I embarked on two different mountain climbing trips. The first, was a summit of Triple Peak (which is just adjacent to 5040), to prepare myself for the second mission. The largest mountain on Vancouver Island, Golden Hinde, a true spectacle of beauty that lies deep within Strathcona Park. My summit of triple peak was uneventful compared to the adventure that awaited me with Golden Hinde. The recommended trip time for Golden Hinde is 5 days in the Vancouver Island trail guide. My party did it in 4.
My party’s start of Golden Hinde was something that most would laugh at (myself included), at the time I definitely thought it was idiotic. Our party consisted of 3 people, my father, myself, and my dad's friend Scotty. We left the parking lot at the southern end of Buttle Lake during the tail end of a week of torrential rain and wind that had struck the island in late August. As we were heading in we passed by plenty of people that were coming out of the trek to the mountain. None of them had been successful in summiting as they were rained out or had been injured. There was one lady and her party we met on the way in who had the misfortune of having a large rock break loose and strike her in the side of the leg. Lucky for her it didn't break the leg but it had seriously injured it. I cannot commend this person enough as she had climbed and limped well over 20 Km to get out. After seeing all of these beaten hikers who were much better equipped than us with ropes, climbing axes, helmets and more. I can confidently say I had a certain fear growing in myself that you only get from knowing that you are about to put yourself through a very difficult ordeal, and difficult ordeal it certainly was.
The first day we pushed through from the parking lot all the way to Carter Lake. Some highlights of this day are that it was so foggy we had about a 30 foot visibility that made our map useless so we relied off of stone cairns and a GPS with spotty service. It was also raining so hard that the “chimney” you have to climb down further up the hike had a small waterfall going through it. Also the one spot we were planning on camping at for the night had already been taken. It wasn’t all bad, as we had some good laughs at how stupid we were for attempting this absolute crusade of chaos. By the time we made it to the other camping spot at Carter Lake our party was in rough shape. Scotty was so cold and wet he was shivering, I was about to pass out from exhaustion and my father wasn’t fairing much better. The icing on the cake of this entire endeavor was that due to the rains the lake had flooded and submerged the usual camp site. We ended up pitching our tents on the one bit of flat ground we could find, which had a small stream running beside it.
That night was truly unpleasant, I woke up to go to the bathroom and my entire body cramped to the point that I could not sit up, so I was forced to crawl out of the tent and through the mud that circled us. Poor Scotty fared the worst, the stream that flowed beside us dammed up during the night and diverted right through his tent. The next morning we awoke tired, wet, and fairly beaten down. We slept in and tried to get our belongings to dry in the wind during some of the weather breaks but we didn't have much luck. Regardless of our situation, we packed up and continued on. The greatest irony of the entire situation was that at the other end of Carter lake there was a beautiful campsite that was high and dry but also unmarked on our map, so we had a good chuckle at that. We continued on to Schjelderup Lake with little issue. By this time the rain had cleared but the clouds remained. From Schjelderup Lake to Burman Lake at the base of Golden Hinde we encountered my old friend, the freezing rain. Looking up from just past Schjelderup to the pass we needed to take was beautiful in the most terrifying way. Before us lay a large barren, smooth, rock ledge that dropped to a valley bottom below, on the other side a sheer wall of granite. We made it through and got to the upper ridge, from here it was all downhill to the base camp of Burman Lake. That night at the base camp was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. For the first time in two days, I saw the stars and clear sky. A warm dry breeze picked up and we stayed up late that night telling stories and laughing about our situation. It was as if the mountain was rewarding us for making it this far.
The next morning we awoke, well rested, dry and content (as I’ve been running with this story for quite some time I’ll try to wrap it up here). That day after more trials, tribulations, and getting lost because our GPS had the winter ice route and not the summer route. We summited. Against all odds, where smarter people had turned back, we had pushed through and before us lay the surveyor maker that proudly displayed that we were on the ceiling of Vancouver Island. After a long 10 hour day we returned to camp, content. We celebrated that night and watched the stars, knowing we had beaten the mountain. The trip out had its fair share of trials, we decided that from the base camp we would push out and do it in one day. We awoke on a beautiful sunny day, aware that no matter how bad the hike out was, it couldn't be worse than what we experienced days before. From here 14 hours of beautiful mountain range and stunning views we got back to our camper in the parking lot. As it turns out, once you hit Philip’s Ridge you can see Golden Hinde for the entire hike. It's probably a good thing we didn’t see it because seeing that ominous snow topped rock looked like staring at a beast of nature, even when walking out. We arrived tired and sore from our ordeal, but full of pride as we did what others could not, with nowhere near the right gear. As we walked back to the camper Scotty stopped us and told us he had something to admit, apparently he was ashamed because he had eaten an entire Toblerone chocolate bar that he had brought for us all to share on the first night. We had a good laugh as we couldn't blame him for it after the hell that was the first day, but for the record I’m still upset he didn't share it!
After summer I started work at Creative Salmon, I worked there from September all the way till February. During this time I went on an amazing hunt with my family. Had plenty of other small adventures, and managed to go on multiple ski trips with my friends. However in late January I started feeling the call of adventure. Back in November I had purchased an old worn down camper from a man in Ucluelet for next to nothing. So in late January I fixed up this old camper, gave my resignation and spent the entire month and some days living up Mt. Washington. I met some incredible people, got the pleasure of seeing a professional fire spinner give a show in the middle of a snow storm which was something to truly behold. I also had some other adventures, I drove to the top of Vancouver Island to Port Hardy. I drove all the way out to Holberg along a horrendous logging road. I got my truck so horribly stuck it took me 5 hours to dig it out of a snow ditch. Also so many other adventures. At the tail end of my mountain excursion I went down to Victoria and acquired my Marine Captains ticket and all the other required paperwork. As fate would have it, my nickname in high school ended up being what I got certified in! From the end of March to currently when I’m writing this in early June I’ve had lots of other adventures and am gearing up to run whale watching boats this summer. This past year I have been able to take some time and really get excited about going back to school. As horrible as the pandemic is, it allowed me to reflect and to do what I love, I also got to know myself better a lot better.
This past year has been very comparable to my trip up Golden Hinde. When I moved home from Victoria during the first lockdown when the campus kicked us out I was at my very worst, I felt like I had failed everyone and myself. My school year had rocketed by like a runaway train and I had to face the mistakes that had led me to that point. Much like my climb up the mountain, the first part back was the hardest. But if this year, just like Golden Hinde, has shown me anything, it's that although things may seem downright unbearable they always get better. My plan going forward is to move back to Victoria and attend Camosun to re-attack engineering, it's still a field that I’m very passionate about. Since Camosun stretches out their year into a 10 month course for first year I can confidently say that I am excited to go back and I know that I can do better this time and succeed. Every engineer I have talked to recommends doing what my plan is as they all say the first year is the hardest. So as I sit and write this I can look back and realize that although my first year at UVIC did not go as planned, I was just one part of the journey and that I’ll be able to do great when I go back to school this fall.
January 2020
What does it mean to be burnt out? It's a question that lots of people need to ask themselves at one point or another in their lifetime. Well I can say for certain that I understand what it means to be burnt out. I arrived at University tired, summer had flown by like a bird in a hurricane and I had spent my last high school break working 50 hours a week on night shifts all summer long, I was tired.
But I’m not one to give up, or the type of person who realizes they are in over their head so I figured I would do what I have done for most of my life and simply put my head down and power through, no matter how difficult it may get. Well I was in engineering and I had foolishly decided that I would take 6 courses for my first semester away from home because that's what the university suggests you should take so you can graduate on time (not factoring in any other course schedule possibilities). It took me a couple weeks until I realized I may be getting myself into a bit of a sticky situation, so I dropped one of my two math courses so I could focus on the rest of my course load and have an easier go at things. However, I was already starting off the climb ahead with loose footing and it soon became apparent that I had bitten off far more than I could chew, but it was too late. I found myself in a blur with each passing week I fell farther and farther behind and no matter how hard I seemed to try and push forward I couldn’t, because of this my grades suffered and I found myself in a position where I had failed 3 of the 5 courses I had taken.
However, as bad as my academics were there was a lot of silver linings to the university experience. In the first week alone I met more people my age than I have known my entire life, I met new friends, new people, had some great laughs and some unforgettable experiences and because of these experiences I only look back at my first semester with happiness and as a time where I learned a lot about myself. So, where do I find myself now? I find myself looking forward to my next semester at university, I’ve decided to take 4 courses and spend more time taking care of myself and enjoying the university experience more instead of looking at is as just one more box that I need to check off to reach my goals.
So, in the end I did end up in a position that I was not ready for, but after learning from the mistakes I made and what I need to do to not repeat them going forward, I can confidently say that I am ready, prepared, and excited for my next semester
[The following article was written by Andrew Bailey and published by the Westerly News]
Riley Banks’ family filled Tofino’s council chambers to watch the 17-year-old West Coast graduate’s passion for helping others rewarded with a $40,000 scholarship.
Banks was announced as the Pacific Rim Foundation’s annual Dick Close Scholarship’s eleventh recipient by the foundation’s present Gary Marks on June 25.
“I am particularly proud that this year’s award goes to a young man who has been inquisitive and engaged from the first moment that he walked into my kindergarten classroom,” an emotional Marks said through tears.
He noted Banks is a well known compassionate ear for his peers to confide in and had dove head first into a diverse range of local job opportunities, volunteered with Pacific Rim Hospice and Tofino Salmon Enhancement Society and created a program to offer tech support to West Coast seniors.
“As Fred Rodgers said, ‘Look for the helpers.’ Riley is that and more. His volunteer efforts are evidence of a dedicated, generous and kind heart and his academic pursuits are proof of an open and keen mind,” Marks said. “Riley’s abilities and accomplishment have shown in his young life a strong character and a sense of purpose. He is a person who is invested in making the world a better place through a life of purpose.”
After the presentation, Riley celebrated with his family outside the municipal hall.
“We’re just so proud of him,” his grandmother Phyllis told the Westerly News.
“He worked really hard for it. He sacrificed a lot of spare time for his grades and for helping other people. I’m just so proud of him. You couldn’t ask for a better son,” added his father Dan.
Mother Karyn Bernard said Riley’s thoughtfulness was inherent at a young age.
“He was the kind of child that would sit and ponder things and think things through and had a love of books,” she said adding support from his family and community helped Riley channel those qualities into a robust passion for making positive impacts.
“He’s been a well supported boy throughout his life by his entire family and well supported by both the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet as well…It really does take a community to raise children and we’re so fortunate and so blessed here on the West Coast to live in such a dynamic place and such a healthy environment and it really just fosters and nurtures the growth of our children.”
Riley told the Westerly that having his family behind him at the announcement illustrated the elements that had led to the event.
“If you’ve ever walked down a beach and turned around at a certain point to see your footprints behind you, that’s what it was like,” he said. “I could see everything that’s brought me to the point that I am now. Seeing everyone that’s helped me and supported me through all the different experiences.”
He has been accepted into the University of Victoria’s computer engineering program, but said he would not forget his West Coast roots and would return to the community often.
“I would not be here and I would not be the person I am without my community,” he said.
The Pacific Rim Foundation’s $40,000 scholarship was created by longtime West Coast resident Dick Close, who remained anonymous as its benefactor until his death in 2016.
Marks said Close’s motivation with the scholarship was to create an incentive for young families to stay in the community and encourage youth to make a positive impact.
“Central to the scholarship was the idea that the recipient would be a person who was invested in making the world a better place through a life lived with purpose,” he said. “This scholarship would celebrate the idea of service to others…We celebrate their volunteerism and contributions to others and their determination to make a difference in a world faced with increasing and great challenges,”
The foundation recently announced the scholarship’s endowment fund has been transferred to the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust to be managed and invested.
