Experiential Learning
Reflecting on my role as "Student Lead" for UWild's Climbing Program
As soon as I got to campus, I started working my way through an "Instructor Progression" at UW's Crags Climbing Center. I've had some really amazing climbing mentors, and teaching beginning climbers new skills started as a wonderful way to give back to the climbing community. Later, in my first Spring quarter, I started teaching glacier mountaineering in a more rigorous "Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue" course. In this course, I grew not only as an instructor but as an outdoor leader, facilitating and enhancing a relatively taxing (read: cold!) outdoor experience while leading trips in Mount Rainier National Park.
At the end of my freshman year, the majority of our instructors graduated, and for a moment I was the sole student instructor. I entered a new position within the program as Climbing Program Assistant, and began working to optimize our class curriculum and help my manager in the day-to-day operation of our facility. I quickly stepped in to teaching our classes on more advanced skills, including classes on traditional climbing and multi pitch climbing. With my manager, I began to mentor and teach new climbing instructors so that they could become the new core of our program. While I love the sharing of knowledge inherent in my job, I've also encountered several challenges that have led to lots of growth. Read my reflection on my time with UWild/Crags here:
One little intermediate note!
In the summer after my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to step into yet another role through my work with UWild! For the first time, we formally partnered with UW's First Year Programs office to offer a full summer of community-building courses designed for incoming freshmen. As a trip leader, I brought student the cliffs at Mt. Eerie near Anacortes to climb, led students up Dakobed (or Glacier Peak, one of Washington's five volcanoes), and assisted on a Sea Kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands. I am so grateful for the skills I developed as an outdoor educator, and the responsibilities I was granted. I'm excited to transfer this part of my background into other career paths. |
Our student newspaper, The Daily, wrote an article highlighting our status as a top college for getting outdoors. The article used the photo above of a class I shadowed my first quarter at UW.
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