When you’re sitting around a campfire with a melted marshmallow dangling at the edge of a stick after a good day of hiking, nothing can feel better than that.
Adventure Educations give you just that sort of experience and many more. It’s an all-inclusive program operated by Wilkes University’s Student Development and it offers a wide variety of fun and physical activities that instill confidence, teamwork and leadership principles, and promotes an all-around good time.
“The purpose of the program is to create opportunities for students to play in the outdoors, use the ropes course and learn about any extra-curricular activity that enhances their learning while they’re at school,” Jill Price said.
Price is the Program Coordinator for Adventure Educations.
“We like to create programs where students can learn self-awareness, self-reliance, leadership and basically have a really good time. We like to have fun,” Price said.
Adventure Education affords students to participate is all kinds of outdoors events including one called “glamping” or as Price describes it, glamorous camping where students stay in a cabin for a weekend, play games and share in the outdoor experience.
“We spend the day together, we cook out meals together, go outside and learn about fire-building and orienteering. We go hiking. It’s really like a safe place where people can meet up with their friends and it’ll expose students to some kind of adventure that they can talk fondly of.”
Adventure Education also provides students involve with the opportunity to become leaders in the program where they can encourage new members to join and lead groups during camping trips or other fun activities taking place off-campus.
Daravann Lok is a sophomore of Wilkes University who found that Adventure Education had more to offer than he could ever have expected.
As a graduate of Delaware Valley Charter school from Philadelphia, PA Lok explained that he was always an out-going individual and that Adventure Education allowed him to relive his high school days in a sense by allowing him to meet new people, make friends where he might not have.
“It changed my life. It really did,” Lok said emphatically with a smile. “Coming into college I was nervous about meeting knew friends and getting out there. Adventure Education gave me the opportunity to get out there and meet knew people and relive my high school experience.”
Lok said that he has maintained strong friendships with individuals he met during his first year with Adventure Education.
“Jill’s model is to live outside your comfort zone,” Lok said. “And that’s exactly what you do when you join this program.”
Lok was so inspired by how the program allowed him to grow that he not only remained with Adventure Education but also became a facilitator for the program.
“I wanted to bring knew people to the program and spread the word about what is going on. I see people on campus who I facilitated and remind them that we have things on campus like the rock wall.”
Adventure Education has a rock wall that will be open to students three nights a week in the UCOM on Main Street as well as a Ropes course.
“I didn’t have this kind of opportunity back home. In the inner city, I couldn’t go rock climbing participate in events like what Adventure Education offers.”
This year Adventure Education received a national grant from Outdoor Nation for the 2014-2015 school year. The grant will afford the program to organize backpacking trips, state park glamping trips, and outdoor programs tailored to local youths.
“We’re taking local sixth graders to camp Kresge on an over-night camping trip and for some of them, it’ll be their first camping trip.”
Price has planned an eventful schedule for the youths including archery, rock climbing, hiking, boating alongside environmentally educational program that makes children more aware of the values in caring for nature.
The trip will also allow parents to attend and see first hand what Wilkes University’s program is doing for their children.
Any students who have a love of the outdoors and want to participate in Adventure education can contact Jill Price via e-mail at [email protected] or stop by her office on the ground floor of the Student Union Building.
“Do it,” Lok said. “It’s the best decision you’ll ever make. If Adventure Education wasn’t on-campus I don’t think it would be quite the same It would just feel like a typical college.”