DeKALB – For the past 42 years, the NIU Adventure Center has provided students with the gear and knowledge they need to participate in recreational activities.
The Adventure Center provides rentals to students and community members including gear for biking, sports, water and winter activities that can be rented for up to a week.
The Adventure Center also hosts indoor and outdoor recreational community events including campfires, craft days and canoeing, which are all free for NIU students.
The main goal of the Adventure Center is to provide students with more opportunities to participate in recreational activities in a community environment.
Natasha Johnson, associate athletic director of recreation, discussed how the program produces its adventure ideas.
“Typically they will send out a survey and then the survey goes on our social medias through our marketing areas and then they will put out a list of things we’ve done in the past, some things they hope to possibly do, and then they’ll leave a blank space to say if there is anything that we missed,” Johnson said.
She also encouraged students to get more involved with the recreation center due to it being student funded.
“I think students should come in here and see what we have to offer, especially fee-paying students because they already paid the fee,” said Johnson. “So you might as well get in here and use the services because it’s not just a workout area.”
Membership Services Coordinator Jabari Worsham said the Adventure Center is built on collaboration.
“They do a lot of team building whether it’s indoors, outdoors, just a way to kind of galvanize different groups, different mental exercises that make you rely on the other person,” Worsham said.
Worsham said the Adventure Center has been beneficial to students.
“You can definitely see it’s been a positive impact. We have students who will come and rent out yard games like bags,” Worsham said.
Harvin Ibarguen, a sport management graduate student and graduate assistant for adventurous recreation, said the Adventure Center helps students relax.
“It’s just an outlet for whenever you are stressed or if you wanna come and take your mind off of something you come and recreate yourself,” Ibarguen said.
Ibarguen also said that the Adventure Center helped him connect better with students.
“I get a lot of questions asked like ‘what do you do here?’ and ‘what’s your position?’ When you ask those questions you get to know other people,” Ibarguen said.
The Adventure Center is open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.
