Laura Page | Contributing Writer
Throughout my years at Buena Vista University (BVU), I have been involved in many types of groups—new, old, large, and small. I have been a member-at-large and an executive board member of Student Senate. With this background, I became a member of the Adventure Leadership Program Scholars (ALPS) in its inaugural year. The organization is small because of its structure, which created a distinct group dynamic. Group members plan and coordinate off-campus trips that expose students to nature at a low cost. Some of our trips this year included skiing and snowboarding, paint-balling, stand-up paddle boarding, caving, hiking, and camping. We also planned campus events that provided an opportunity for students to learn related skills, socialize, and even enjoy some freshly made treats.
Every member is a leader and we each had to contribute a lot of time, effort, and ideas to have success. That kind of commitment can be hard, but it is also immensely rewarding. Through our challenges, the ALPS leaders grew together and formed a unique bond by the end of the year. Though we weren’t close at the beginning of the year and many of our personalities were strikingly different, our time spent working together forged a fun, mature, and exciting environment to work in.
As an ALPS leader, I learned many skills from lessons conducted at our meetings and from trying new things. As one of four leaders for a weekend trip to a Minnesota cave, I learned how to work with other leaders and balance different leading styles. I also learned how to engage participants in the adventures to ensure they are having fun. I had the opportunity to learn how cool caves are, how much fun skiing in Minnesota can be, and how to put a castle into paint ball. And yes, the castle was awesome. With as much benefit as I gained from the experience, I can’t overstate the services to students ALPS provides.
Our efforts gave students the opportunity to experience all of the trips with little to no hard work on their part. As ALPS leaders, we do all of the planning and a majority of the paying. Students have a small fee to pay and then just a short walk to the vans waiting on campus to transport them to their next adventure. The organization as a whole worked hard to encourage students to participate in these activities and to make it easy and fun to do so. In addition to learning these leadership and social skills, I also gained many hard skills such as using a campfire stove, removing a fish hook, making the most of paracord, and making tasty snow ice cream.
ALPS provides opportunities to everyone to learn new skills and experience nature. We certainly hit the ground running, so to speak, in our first year as a campus organization. We learned a lot, gained ample experience, and built social bonds. The prospects for ALPS are thrilling. Keep your eye open for future trips next year!
Graphic by Aaron Burns
