ABOR Journal #3.

Throughout my life I have explored the backcountry many times, however this spring, I

learned how to not only travel safer, but more effective as well. I would say that I have always

stayed on the safe side when it came to traveling in the backcountry, however, I always had room

for improvement when it came to traveling in an effective manner. An effective manner to me

includes that of working quickly and efficiently, especially in stressful situations. There have

been times in my life where I have been stressed working in the outdoors, and to some extent, it

affects my performance. I have found that I need to get passed that boundary if I am to become

an effective outdoor leader. I have found that this particular semester has allowed me plenty of

opportunities to work on this weakness, and I have seen myself improve in this area, mostly

because, there have been some stressful situations that have grown me as an effective leader.

These include the River Trip(effective spacing, Position of Maximum Usefulness, etc…), and the

Winter Trip(time management, dressing according to the weather, etc…).

Throughout the semester, we were required to give and present a skills presentation that

included creating a lesson plan beforehand. I had never created a lesson plan before, let alone

teach, so this was definitely new to me. I got the hang of it eventually, but not after a few screw

ups, and meetings with my professor. Overall, I found lesson plans to not only be helpful, but

also effective in teaching a meaningful lesson.

I have always grown up in the outdoors and have enjoyed mountain biking and skiing

since a young age, as well as river sports, so I was confident in my experiences and how that

would help my confidence leading up to this major. My greatest area for improvement, however,

was stepping up and performing tasks on my own. Before I would complete a task, but only after

someone would ask me to do it. The next level, however, was that of doing the task not only on

my own initiative, but to my best ability whether someone was watching or not. I would say that
the experiences from this second semester allowed me to see improvement in self-initiation. I

feel like I fit in well with a community of outdoor leaders because we share not only a common

interest, but a common goal of being the best leaders we can be. I also feel that, because of my

experience in the outdoors and my outgoing personality, I am someone that people are going to

look up to and be comfortable with.

Journal #3.1

One thing that I need to work on, but have definitely improved upon this year in my

experience with leading in the outdoors, is that of assessing a group and figuring out the most

effective way to maintain emotional and physical safety. This past winter trip seemed to really

test this. I found that the most important factor of a winter trip is staying comfortable. This

includes warmth, and the type of gear you bring with you. When these are not taken into

consideration, a handful of things can go wrong, but one of the most crucial things is that of

emotions and attitudes. I found that when I was cold and wet, it was difficult to give full

attention to other factors at hand(ie… food and water consumption). When these are not taken

into strict consideration, I found that emotions, if any, can run high. Another factor I've found

crucial to outdoor leadership and should be number one on every outdoor leader at all times is

that of physical safety. This should be the number one priority of all guides. When this is taken

into consideration, clients are having more fun and enjoying the adventure. I have found that,

when working with kids for the past couple of years, this is a strength of mine, and I felt like I

was effective in this aspect throughout this semester. Don’t get me wrong, I feel like I improved

in this area as well.

I have also had experience in speaking and writing this school year. My communication

has strengths and weaknesses, so it is something that I am always looking to improve. Writing

has been a strong suit for me, and while this remains, I continue to grow as a writer. One of my

weaknesses in writing is that sometimes I will write too much, filling in words that are pointless
to the point I am trying to make. I have always been an effective speaker as well, but have found

that a effective notes/cue cards are essential as I can choke up sometimes. I do not, however,

have a high level of computer skills, and that is one thing that I need to work on that will help me

get hired for an entry level position. I can navigate computer technology just fine, however, I

think that an advanced level of this would be helpful in a future career. I am confident in that of

practical application as I tend to find opportunities that I am able to apply skills to, most of the

time, without even thinking about it. I believe this comes from my experience with working for

outdoor recreation companies in the summers. Another area I believe I can improve upon is the

knowledge of concepts and theories in recreation, and their importance. My first semester of

college was the first time I had ever learned about the theory of recreation, and it seemed to open

my eyes up as to why outdoor recreation is so abundant in today's world and why it is a necessity

to a community.

Throughout my second semester, I attended a number of events in Quincy, a large

number of them relating to environmental impacts that recreation has on the environment. I

found that while my knowledge of these subjects increased, my opinions on them changed as

well. Beforehand, I took the environmental impact aspect of recreation for granted, and was just

focusing on having fun. With this new understanding from these events, I have begun to

acknowledge the importance of the impact recreation has on our natural resources, and I can say

that my mindset has changed. It is because of these beautiful places and environments that we

get to recreate, but I realized, what good are these places if they are mistreated? I have found

myself to be a more environmental conscious recreator because of this new mindset. I realize that

it is just as important to keep this mindset as it is to acquire it. I believe there will be times where

I will take environmental awareness for granted again, but I will try and prevent that the best I

can, nonetheless.