Professional Skills
Outcome 2: Students will know, understand, and effectively apply general and specialty professional skills in a variety of leisure and outdoor recreation settings.
Requirement: Provide documentation that demonstrates that you have a senior level competency in each of the following areas:
Requirement: Provide documentation that demonstrates that you have a senior level competency in each of the following areas:
A: Abstract Knowledge
Notable instances of practical application of abstract knowledge learned in ORLM courses:
1) In RE250 we spent time discussing how our core values influence the way we interact with others and the environment. This is certainly abstract knowledge, but is important to understand the root reasons for why people care about things, especially when your job is to better relate people to their natural environment.
Worldview skillbuilder workshop: After learning about paradigms and how our views shape the ways in which we interact with the world in RE250, I wanted to facilitate a discussion with other non-ORLM students. I created a skillbuilder workshop based on world views through the Student Leader Fellowship Program within the university (to learn more about skillbuilders click here). I facilitated a discussion between approximately 20 students broken into small groups which covered the following questions and concepts. (handout from Workshop based on RE250) As you may notice, many of these are deep and potentially controversial questions. Facilitating such a discussion required me to pull knowledge from my training in leadership skills from classes such as RE251 and RE261. Remaining objective and not biased when facilitating an opinion based exercise is challenging for all leaders. Both courses gave me experience with emotionally stressful activities and how to debrief them properly.
2) In RE261 we covered No-Doze Leadership Styles which is a theoretical model used by the NOLS program to train their instructors. Through several activities we found out what leadership styles each of us were and how we best work with others. I ended up in the Spontaneous Motivator section, but close enough to a Driver that I can flip back and forth between them. Knowing this, I realized that my strengths as a leader are passion, energy, mission driven, and being direct. Things I need to be cautious of include being an "over-leader" and staying objective when necessary.
1) In RE250 we spent time discussing how our core values influence the way we interact with others and the environment. This is certainly abstract knowledge, but is important to understand the root reasons for why people care about things, especially when your job is to better relate people to their natural environment.
Worldview skillbuilder workshop: After learning about paradigms and how our views shape the ways in which we interact with the world in RE250, I wanted to facilitate a discussion with other non-ORLM students. I created a skillbuilder workshop based on world views through the Student Leader Fellowship Program within the university (to learn more about skillbuilders click here). I facilitated a discussion between approximately 20 students broken into small groups which covered the following questions and concepts. (handout from Workshop based on RE250) As you may notice, many of these are deep and potentially controversial questions. Facilitating such a discussion required me to pull knowledge from my training in leadership skills from classes such as RE251 and RE261. Remaining objective and not biased when facilitating an opinion based exercise is challenging for all leaders. Both courses gave me experience with emotionally stressful activities and how to debrief them properly.
2) In RE261 we covered No-Doze Leadership Styles which is a theoretical model used by the NOLS program to train their instructors. Through several activities we found out what leadership styles each of us were and how we best work with others. I ended up in the Spontaneous Motivator section, but close enough to a Driver that I can flip back and forth between them. Knowing this, I realized that my strengths as a leader are passion, energy, mission driven, and being direct. Things I need to be cautious of include being an "over-leader" and staying objective when necessary.
B: Interpersonal Communication
Through my ORLM classes I have learned to work well with others and become confident in my interpersonal, oral and written communication skills. A notable project that demonstrated all three of these skills was a guided walk and tour (assignment description) of the 7th Street Cemetery in Marquette, MI for RE381: Interpetation. I worked with a peer, Jenni Feighner, to research, develop and implement a guided interpretive tour highlighting the founders of Marquette. This required us to collaborate our ideas and critique one another when we rehearsed. To demonstrate evidence of oral communication skills, you can view a video of our tour (Meet the Founders!) here. Finally, to demonstrate written communication skills, we completed a planning worksheet which detailed our presentation, explained our goals and objectives and sourced our research.
C: Technical Skills
Technical skills are essential for any outdoor professional. In order to lead trips into the wilderness, or even lead day hikes, one must have experience themselves so that they are familiar and comfortable in the outside world. RE155 and RE356 have given me basic camping and trip planning skills. RE155 gave me a great base of skills including shelter site selection, tarp shelters, knot tying, and LNT principles. RE356 was a leadership course which taught theories and practical application of decision making, risk management and facilitation techniques, as well as outdoor skills including: Stove use, sled packing, snowshelter building, navigation, LNT firebuilding, cooking meals in the backcountry, snowshoeing and other winter camping skills. The photo journal found below offers photo evidence of the various skills I learned and practiced in these two classes.
Other technical skills include PADI SCUBA certifications (Open Water Diver and Advanced Open Water Diver) as well as a WFR certification and a PSIA Alpine Skiing Level 1 certification.
D: Understanding of Leisure
An assignment from RE410 which exemplifies my understanding of leisure's role in society is the era project. My group and I were assigned an era to research and create an interactive presentation to teach the class about leisure's role in that time period. We explored the Renaissance era and showed art through a stained glass window craft, literature through poetry readings, dance through a rudimentary pavane (group dance) and the music which played during so. We all dressed up in historical costumes and did our best to perform as interpretive characters to set the scene for our audience. Here you can find a detailed written outline and our summaries of each leisure component (art, dance, literature and music). I have also attached a reflection which better describes my role in the group.