Retreat inspires OCR staffby

By Penny Rynberk

Encouraging students to try new experiences is one of the goals the Office of Campus Recreation trip leader staff set during their retreat to MacQueen Forest Preserve last Saturday.

“We want to turn people on to a whole new experience,” said Ashley Sweda, coordinator of the rec center’s outdoor program. “All they need is an open mind.”

These new experiences include kayaking in North Carolina, backpacking at Big Bend National Park, and eagle-watching on the Mississippi River.

Sweda accompanied Associate Director Alicia Cosky, Graduate Assistant Melanie Wulf and about 13 rec center trip leaders on the retreat. The staff successfully set goals for the trip program and began to formulate a future outdoor leadership course.

The staff set a goal to increase beginner involvement on rec center trips. The message they want students to get is that now experience is needed to attend trips.

“Our trips are designed for inexperienced students,” Sweda said. “If we have experienced people on the trip, we can pair them up with a separate leader so the trip can meet their expectations.”

The staff also decided to aim at promoting the other benefits a rec center trip can offer other than being a fun experience.

“The trips encourage spiritual and personal growth,” Sweda said. They can also offer students a way to meet new people in a relaxed atmosphere, he added.

Formulation of a future outdoor leadership course also occupied the staff’s interests at Saturday’s seminar. The corse is designed to enhance students’ leadership qualities, including areas of risk management, trip-planning and organization and environmental issues.

Sweda hopes to begin teaching the course this fall one night a week for three hours. He recommends that students with trip leader experience take the course to improve their skills. He also recommends the course to anyone interested in becoming a trip leader.