Jill Cary and Theo Krijnse Locker traded in their smartphones and city living to lead a group of first-year students through the Great Smoky Mountains during the summer before they officially began attending the University of Miami.
For four days, Cary, Locker, and members of the Department of Wellness and Recreation’s Outdoor Adventures staff trekked through the wilderness with the group to learn more about the great outdoors and, most importantly, themselves.
“There are a lot of challenges that you face while backpacking and out in the wilderness that we can compare to the challenges that you face throughout college,” said Locker, a junior studying ecosystem science and policy. “We hope that the challenges that they experienced will help them to be better prepared for their first couples of weeks at the University.”
First-Year Trips is a peer-led, adventure-based experience that offers participants a range of opportunities. Students have to be away from their families for an extended time, adapt to their environment, and face many new challenges.
“We talk a lot in the program about being comfortable in the uncomfortable, so this experience intends to help our peers learn how to work through the problems as they arrive,” said Cary, a senior studying biology.
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