OHIO’s Outdoor Leadership excursion teaches students leadership skills in wilderness setting

Anew cohort of OHIO’s Outdoor Leadership (opens in a new window) program emerged from the wilderness. Dirty, grizzled and disheveled after a month-long adventure through the mountains and seas, these Bobcats learned much more than outdoor survival. While discovering their own limitations, they learned how to work as a team towards a collective goal through their many failings and subsequent triumphs along the way.

From May 14 to June 11, OHIO students embarked on a 28-day adventure through the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains and along North Carolina’s coastline. The program is designed to allow students to develop a deeper understanding of the knowledge, skills and dispositions required for effective outdoor leadership.

“Students should be leaving our program with a strong foundation of skill-based experiences in courses like backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking and canoeing,” said Joe Crowley, an assistant professor instruction who oversees the course. “But also professional level skills when it comes to things like collaborative work, management, budgeting. All of these are integral parts of our program.”

To have a successful experience, students need to demonstrate both self-reliance and an understanding of their own abilities, or lack thereof, as well as a collaborative attitude and trust towards fellow students as they work towards the same goals. Although these skills translate directly into a career of outdoor leadership, they are also skills that once learned, resonate through multiple aspects one’s life.

“Those kinds of challenges that we are all facing have a way of bringing the group together and creating a sense of community,” said Andrew Szolosi, an associate professor who has been leading the course for the past four years.

The program exists in three separate phases: backpacking the Pisgah National Forest of North Carolina; coastal kayaking Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina; and bike-packing the Alleghany Highlands. It is open to all students regardless of previous outdoor experience. Students who successfully take the course earn nine credit hours and are awarded the Leave No Trace Trainer Certificate.

Anna Hattemer, a senior majoring in outdoor recreation in the Patton College of Education (opens in a new window) , said the course left her with a deep sense of trust in herself, and the desire to continue to push herself through life’s obstacles, no matter how difficult.

“Taking this class really helped show me that I could do harder things,” she said.

Though she’s had a lifelong interest in the outdoors, prior to the trip she had only gone backpacking on two separate occasions. Because of her limited experience, she was reasonably intimidated about spending nearly a full month in the wilderness.

“The very first day I realized that this course was going to help me build my confidence,” she said.

Hattemer readily admits that the trip was at times difficult, challenging the limits of her physical and mental strength. Still, no matter the adversity, it provided Hattemer a continuous opportunity to overcome.

It was the most difficult moments that became Hattemer’s favorite memories. She was most nervous about the bike-packing portion of the trip. Having no prior experience, she was worried that it would end in total failure.

“That was my favorite part just because I proved myself wrong,” she said.

While on the trip she had to rely on herself, employing technical skills she learned like tying knots and purifying water. More importantly, however, she gained the confidence to work with — and when necessary, lead — new people. On the last day of the trip the class was dropped off on the trail and left by themselves for eight hours, relying on what they had learned for the past 27 days to survive.

“The whole trip is intimidating, and I still did it,” she said

After graduation Hattemer intends to start a career in the outdoors. Though she doesn’t have a concrete plan on what she will be doing, she hopes to move to Utah and perhaps start a career at the National Outdoor Leadership School (opens in a new window) . She wants to help empower young women to recreate in the outdoors comfortably and inspire people to enjoy the peaceful solitude of nature.

“Trust yourself and know that the outdoors are built for everyone,” she said.