Newspapers / The clarion : the … / Sept. 7, 2007, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2 News The Clarion \ Sept. 7, 2007 Venturing to Adventure: Mountain Journeys by Jenna Bales Campus Life On Sunday, August 26, the newest members of Brevard College took a walk on the wild side. Approximately 180 new incoming students embarked on Mountain Journeys trips to locales near Brevard and around western North Carolina. The concept of Mountain Journeys began in 2004, fueled by the notion that outdoor orientation programs promoted elevated levels of social support development and helped to facilitate positive connections to students’ colleges and universities. Over the past 3 years. Mountain Journeys evolved from a First- Year Fomm course requirement into a co-curricular piece of Fall Orientation. Yet, the idea today still remains the same: engage students with their community members in the natural environment through fun, recreational activities. Throughout the summer, students were able to register for the top three choices of outdoor trips. These options featured adventures including mountain biking at DuPont State Forest, sea kayaking and canoeing on Cascade Lake, rock climbing in Pisgah National Forest, cooling off at Sliding Rock, tubing on the Davidson River, and exploring the beautiful cascades of Triple Falls and High Falls. Joining them on these excursions were 24 student, staff, and faculty leaders. A midday squall brought strong winds, a deluge of rain, and hghtning to Transylvania County and indefinitely postponed activities such as the waterfall hikes and Sliding Rock trip. However, not even inclement weather could spoil the spirits of many students. During the midst of a severe thunderstorm while huddled in a shelter, one new student excitedly proclaimed, “This is why I came to Brevard!” Student leader Casey Asbill- Beck commented on the rock chmbingouting, stating, “[The m Students raft the French Broad during Mountain Journeys on August 26 trip] rocked! Everyone was able to get a chmb in, and then it started pouring. But, everyone said they had an awesome time.” As one of the premier outdoor towns in the Southeast, Brevard features over 200 miles of trails and 167,000 acres of public forest lands. Stocked trout streams sate the casting desires of fly fishers, and many of these creeks double as paradise for whitewater enthusiasts as water levels rise. Roadcychsts, mountain bikers, horseback riders, waterfall enthusiasts, cliff-jumpers, and anyone who enjoys spending time in the outdoors can find respite in the nearby state and national forests. Opportunities for outdoor pursuits abound and provide an excellent way for new students to coimect both to the area and with other individuals. For more information on outdoor recreation activities at Brevard, please contact Jenna Bales at balesil@brevard.edu. Residence Life Staff Holds RA Training by Kelley Eyster Campus Life What did you do at the end of your summer? Did you spend time with fam ily, go on that last adventure, enjoying life, being carefree not worrying about school? In stead of doing any of these last minutes things before return ing to school about half of our students return early as ath letes or student leaders. All of these students invest long hours of commitment to their responsibilities. A select group of these stu dents are our Resident Advi sors who participate in RA training. RA training occurs every year before school. This year RA training was crammed into 5 intense days from Sam until 9pm; furthermore, RA’s assisted with residential stu dent housing check in and Ori entation. Our training began with an adventurous day led by Drew Breimen at Camp Rockbrock. At the Camp we all climbed the Alpine Tower and participated in Geo Caching that took us to a waterfall and other points where the group had to com plete various teambuilding ac tivities. This year our RA training fo cused on Resident Advisors as facilitators of community. Along with continuous discus sions on creating and maintain ing a healthy community in our residential areas, our RA’s re ceive training in CPR, counsel ing skills, conflict and media tion skills, crisis and emer gency management, program ming, FERPA, student confi dentiality, and review BC Stu dent Code of Conduct. One of the RA’s favorites during training is a three hour session called Behind Closed Doors. During Behind Closed Doors, RA’s are asked to apply their training that they have learned throughout the week by going through a series of 6 real life scenarios that they may encounter as RA’s. In these situations they ap proach a scenario in an RA frame of mind, dealing with conflict situations, mental health issues, and violations of the student code of conduct. This year’s training was ex cellent! We have a Resident Advisor staff that is consis tently positive, encouraging, and willing to engage in activi ties outside their comfort zone. We are looking forward to great year with our dedicated RA’s leading our residential stu dents to perfect harmony.
Sept. 7, 2007, edition 1
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