1) There will be plenty of time for chores, but there is not always an abundance of time to fish. I was lucky to have a dad who truly lived by this mantra, and brought me up to believe that it was a key to a happy life. On many occasions he would halt my mowing of the lawn mid-job so we could get to the river before sundown. There would be weeks on end where our lawn would look like some sort of landscaping project gone wrong, but as long as the fishing was up to date, we were willing to endure the scorn of the neighbors.

2) Never, under any circumstances, admit that you are lost- More than just a male creedo, this lesson was originally passed from a former Boundary Waters Canoe Guide to me as I embarked on my first summer in a similar post. While it was an important tenant of successful canoe guiding, it also showed me that nothing will ever be gained from worrying about a situation, and that, through concentrating on the end result rather than the excess of hurdles in the way, any issue is resolvable.

3) Don't let class get in the way of a good education- This is a very basic principle that got me through college, and has stuck with me since. An uncle shared this with me on the eve of my departure for college. While at the time, I was unsure exactly what it meant, it has since became crystal clear. Education can occur in places other than the classroom, and by jumping in headfirst and grasping on to the abundance of life experiences, it is possible to learn ten times as much as you can by simply reading about the life experiences of others in dusty old textbooks.