Ferris
student Cindy Horn (EHS’02) knows that many people wouldn’t
relive high-school gym class for any amount of money. She also
knows physical education doesn’t have to emphasize athletic
ability—in fact, she’s bet her career on it.
Horn is a married, working mother who recently
graduated from the Recreation Management and Leisure Services
program at Ferris, having completed a bachelor’s degree
in a field few students are even aware of. Horn herself learned
about RMLS later in life and left a work history that included
stints in restaurant and retail management and insurance to pursue
her degree.
“I’d worked in several different
jobs and felt unfulfilled,” says Horn. “I was looking
through the Ferris catalog, seeing what was offered, and found
RMLS. The holistic view really got me—the mind-body-spirit
connection has always been my thing.”
Learning
the Ropes
Students choose RMLS with a variety of goals
in mind. Horn’s focus is a more affirming brand of physical
education that uses a holistic approach instead of emphasizing
sheer physical prowess.
“Physical education is changing—it’s
not just about being physical anymore,” she says. “It’s
about addressing fears and challenging your comfort zone.”
This approach builds self-esteem in students,
regardless of their athletic talents, according to Horn, whose
specific area of expertise is outdoor adventure education. She
was trained as a facilitator at the University’s ropes course,
and in summer of 2001, she worked with 15 juniors and seniors
from Big Rapids High School to teach them to lead team-building
activities using the ropes course, a map-and-compass course and
portable team-building games kits.
The 15 upperclassmen then led the same number
of freshmen and sophomores through the program. The result? A
core group of confident, young leaders in one local high school,
and first-hand experience for Horn.
“This was something I did on my own, not
as a requirement,” she says. “Ultimately, I want to
do this in schools.”
Rec-ing
Crew
Horn’s initiative, dubbed Project Challenge,
was picked up in 2002 by Big Rapids native Andy Stolberg. Now
a junior in the RMLS program, Stolberg is lean, tan and smiling
from beneath a mop of curly hair. He graduated from Big Rapids
High School with a number of potential careers in mind—oceanographer,
firefighter, EMT. He credits his mother with introducing him to
recreation management.
“I knew I didn’t want to sit behind
a computer all day,” Stolberg says. “I decided—if
I want to play for the rest of my life, this was the way to do
it.”
Ironically, his quest to avoid the office and
play all day tied him to the computer for the summer, busily writing
a grant proposal for Project Challenge: The Next Generation. This
time, he and senior Alison Howard of Blanchard, Mich., will make
more use of the University’s climbing wall, for which they
are both trained supervisors, to challenge BRHS freshmen.
“I’m also looking at an overnight
backpacking trip this year—that would be a great experience
and good for team-building,” Stolberg says.
Both Horn’s and Stolberg’s renditions
of Project Challenge have acquired Learn and Service Student Citizen
Fellows Grant funding from the Michigan Campus Compact through
the Corporation for National Service. RMLS grad Cinnamon Dockham
(EHS’03) also garnered grant support from MCC for her environmental
education program, Operation HOPE.
Their success in receiving these grants illustrates
the broad range of skills fostered by the program. The diversity
of student projects and interests within the program show what
can be done with those skills.
Much of this diversity stems from the varied
backgrounds—and ages—of the students. Dockham, for
instance, has been a soldier, a military wife, a stay-at-home
mom and a minimum-wage employee at a number of dead-end jobs.
Life-altering experiences at Yellowstone National Park and Sleeping
Bear Dunes revived a lifelong dream of being a park ranger—and
RMLS has been a great fit.
“Many of us ‘non-traditional students’
have discovered that the secret to education has little to do
with textbooks and desks, but everything to do with applying the
knowledge we gain from experience,” she says. “We
probably drive the younger students nuts with stories about babies,
mortgage payments, aches and pains and life in the ’80s—but
I think we also provide the more-traditional students with accessible
mentors. We develop a family atmosphere… I often forgot
just how much older I was than the other students—I loved
that!—and I learned a lot from the experiences of the younger
students, as well, which is awesome!”
Life
of Leisure
Unlike many Ferris majors, jobs in the rec management
field aren’t always lucrative. They do, however, offer other
benefits—including the chance to make a difference through
experiential teaching and learning. You can’t get much more
hands-on than a climbing wall, or the swaying upper reaches of
the University’s ropes course—Woodbridge Ferris would
be proud.
“Why would I leave a good job for four
more years of schooling and a pay cut?” asks Horn. “Because
I love what I’m doing here.”
Dockham agrees that passion is important.
“It isn’t all fun and games,”
she says. “We work hard. We do research. We debate philosophical
issues. This kind of experiential learning makes a deep impression.”
That said, Dockham’s enthusiasm for the
obvious lifestyle benefits of the rec management field can’t
be concealed. “Think about it—we get paid to go outside
and play!”
Every child’s dream come true, but don’t
take that the wrong way. This isn’t kid’s stuff.
