Campus Insights

Meaningful Engagement in Outdoor Leadership

By Sarah Skoy, Associate Director of Outdoor Leadership

September 17, 2024

Hamilton offers students a plethora of ways to engage on campus meaningfully. The College does this in the classroom with its open curriculum, which allows students to explore a variety of academic interests. Hamilton also creates avenues for meaningful engagement in co-curricular pursuits through student clubs, activities, jobs, and teams. In a way, in both academics and co-curricular offerings, the College offers students an ala carte experience, allowing individuals to pick and choose classes and campus activities that are unique to each student. Through this lens, campus activities function in a similar way to academics. In academics, students try a variety of courses in different departments and advance from their 100-level courses to upper-level courses in their major. Similarly, students can advance their involvement and leadership with their co-curricular pursuits. Outdoor leadership is one of the co-curricular pursuits by which students can engage at a broad or deep level, depending on their time, inclination, and interests.

The Outdoor Leadership program offers foundational experiences for students to get involved in outdoor-related activities. Each foundational experience is designed to provide meaningful engagement with other students while learning a new skill or participating in an activity. Examples include:

• Going on an Adirondack Adventure orientation trip
• Climbing at the climbing wall
• Signing up for an Outing Club trip

A second level of engagement is at the leader level. This level is akin to students advancing in their majors and practicing real-time leadership skills. Examples include:

• Receiving training in Wilderness First Aid
• Participating in the Outing Club or Adirondack Adventure leader training
• Co-leading backcountry trips

The final level is professional development-level training for students who express an interest in entering outdoor leadership professions, such as Alaskan glacial guiding or working for NOLS, Outward Bound, or Apogee Adventures. For this level of student, professional staff provide guidance on certification courses and summer jobs. This level is similar to students completing a thesis or capstone project in their academic major.

Although my specialty is in outdoor leadership, I see these mechanisms for experiences and growth apparent across the College in academic and co-curricular settings. Hamilton encourages students to "Know Thyself." Instead of "Knowing Thyself" from the beginning, I encourage students to "Develop an Understanding of Themselves." This understanding comes from trying new things and moving toward those activities and interests that capture a student's attention and away from those that do not. Hamilton provides students with a way to try a variety of academic and co-curricular pursuits and gives avenues for deep engagement so that students can graduate with a good understanding of who they are, what they like, and why. By graduation, if students engage deeply and widely on campus, they will have lived into the College's motto: "Know Thyself." 

Finally, it is important at places like Hamilton, where there are so many opportunities available to students, to protect their time and attention for the pursuits that matter. I encourage students to try new things and stay open to experiences, but also stay open to the experience of saying no and doing only those things that support their time, energy, and attention, not detract from it. Remember, sleep and downtime are good, too, and allow students to have the energy reserves to fully engage later.

If your student is interested in the outdoors, the Glen House door is always open. Students can join the Outing Club listserv and learn more about club events by emailing sskoy@hamilton.edu. 

Onward and upward!