I came to Ithaca College my junior year as a transfer student majoring in outdoor adventure leadership and minoring in environmental studies. I stumbled upon the field of outdoor education almost by mistake while I was still a student at the University of New Hampshire when I decided to take a backpacking class and I have been hooked ever since. I discovered Ithaca’s outdoor adventure leadership program and chose it because of all of the opportunities offered to get hands-on and research experience in the field. My decision to come to Ithaca College only furthered my love for the field by allowing me to expand my knowledge towards theoretical, leadership, facilitation, and socioemotional skills.
I have always been very self-driven and felt the need to improve and further myself. Ithaca College was able to help me in achieving this goal by supporting my attendance to the AORE-AEE International Conference this past fall. At the conference, I was able to present research at the Poster Symposium, attend countless life-changing workshops, and speak with professionals regarding my theoretical research and their experiences in the field.