Andy Bassett

Position at NOLS: NOLS Bus Representative
NOLS Course: Southwest Outdoor Educator Backpacking, 2006

“You have two sides, one out in the field and one in….” So begin the rules of cricket, a sport Andy Bassett is excited to play with the cricket bat and ball he has stashed aboard the NOLS bus.

Joining the crew from Boone, North Carolina where he completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies at Appalachian State University, Andy joined the bus in May of 2007. When he saw the job posting he recalls “lights started going off and sirens – I think I heard angels singing.”

From where does this enthusiasm for NOLS and the bus come? Andy initially came to NOLS for a Southwest Outdoor Educator course in January of 2006. He took the course to fulfill a requirement for his graduate studies in College Student Development and so enjoyed his time in the desert of Arizona that he was hooked. He considers the NOLS’ ethic and wilderness classroom setting “the purest form of education.” He believes the wilderness makes an attractive host for teaching leadership skills.

Andy enjoyed teaching these skills to students at Appalachian State (ASU) both as an undergraduate and graduate student. As an undergraduate he worked with the Leadership Team and he continued that work as a grad student. Also as a grad student, he ran ASU’s climbing facility and worked with the university’s orientation program. The appeal of teaching skills like communication and conflict resolution led Andy into outdoor education and he hopes to facilitate such learning as a NOLS instructor in the future.

Until then, though, the bus has staked its claim on this energetic man and is excited to be carrying him across the country shouting NOLS from the solar paneled rooftops!