I am currently an 8th semester senior in Penn State's Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management (RPTM) major. I came into Penn State originally undecided and committed to RPTM at the end of my sophomore fall, still with no idea of what I wanted to do. Through my college experiences, both inside and outside of class, I have narrowed in on backcountry experiential education as my dream job. I have been told to expect 70-100 days in the field this summer with Outward Bound in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC. Last summer with the AMC in the White Mountains of NH I had 44, which was the most I had ever done in a season by nearly double. This summer I look to double that number again, which is a challenge I'm super excited for. Being in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park this past week fired up my excitement for this summer. Penn State RPTM runs a special topics course called the Outdoor Recreation Consortium that includes a weeklong trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. This trip was last week, March 17-22. The purpose of the consortium is for us to engage in some experiential learning of recreation resource management in a National Park. And not just any National Park, the Great Smokies is the most visited National Park seeing over 11 million people per year. I finally took this class after hearing such great things about it, and it was far better than I ever had expected. We stayed at the Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont. The accommodations were dorm style, we slept in sleeping bags on bunk beds. There was running water and even hot showers, so by my standards, this was comfortable luxury. The consortium saw 6 different schools- Mizzou, Western Illinois, East Carolina, NC State, Texas A&M, and of course Penn State. It made the trip a whole lot more fun having the opportunity to interact with people from other schools. We lucked out with great weather for the whole week, sunny with highs in the 50s most days. On Thursday it rained/ sleeted while I was on a whole day hike but it didn't really affect anything. The mornings were quite chilly but it never really went below freezing. Can't complain since we got hot showers and indoor accommodations. Additionally, there was no service at the institute so I did not use my phone all week except to take some photos. It was super refreshing to be totally unplugged and not worried about anything at school. It was almost like a second spring break, except I earned credit! The majority of the consortium consisted of doing activities or hearing talks related to recreation resource management. In addition to learning about management, we had some sessions learning about tourism, environmental interpretation, history and culture, or just simply recreation. Most days saw a number of concurrent sessions, and we were given the option of which track we wanted to take. I opted for all of the sessions that allowed me to be outside and active, so much of the week I spent hiking. For Wednesday's all day track I chose backcountry management. To learn about some of the challenges involved with this, we loaded up packs and carried mulch a few miles down the AT to a backcountry toilet. This photo was taken along the hike. It was interesting to see the differences in toilet technology between the Smokies and the Whites. In the Whites, backcountry toilets require a caretaker to stir them, in the Smokies, their system needs no stirring and therefore no caretakers. I was pumped to get backcountry management because we got to hike all day. That's all I want to do in the mountains anyway. A huge part of why this past week in the Smokies was such a great experience was because of the people I was with. I was lucky enough to be able to take the class with two of my friends from home that also go to Penn State. The group that came from Penn State in general was awesome. I got so much closer with everyone and I really valued the week for doing that.
I can say that without a question I learned a ton about park management, tourism, the environment, and the Smokies themselves. But when I think back on the week, my main takeaway is just this; I am unbelievably excited for this summer. Trip leading backpacking, canoeing, climbing, and whitewater kayaking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, right next door to the Smokies, is going to put me through a lifetime of experiences. With the most days in the field that I've ever done in one season by a huge margin, I am going to learn so much and get so much better at what I do. I kept referring to this past week as "my snack before dinner" meaning it was a week of the woods tiding me over until my whole summer of the woods. I have 5 weeks of class left in my last semester of classes, then it's time for the real world. The past week has been a cherry on top of my RPTM experience, and I am so thankful for the opportunity. |
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