Matthew Copeland

Hometown: Charlottesville, VA
Position at NOLS: Marketing Bus Supervisor
NOLS Graduate: 2004 Spring Semester in the Rockies

On Easter in 2004, as Copeland’s NOLS Semester course navigated the first big rapid of the Green River, an oar rig snagged on a rock, and dumped its passengers and course gear into the swiftly moving river. Everything except for a tent was rescued, but somehow the “dry-bags” packed with course gear, did not live up to their name.

Exhausted and wet, Copeland and his course mates crammed 5 people into each 4-person tent, and squirmed into soggy sleeping bags as a night rain began to fall. Soaked, Copeland lay with his feet sticking out of the tent—the only way he could fit. “All I could do was smile. I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be and I couldn’t have been happier,” says Copeland.

Before coming to NOLS for his semester course, Copeland worked for seven years in Washington, D.C. on the business side of the technology industry. “I reached a point in my career when I realized that I didn’t want to do that for another 35 or 40 years. I wanted to pursue things that I was really passionate about,” the NOLS grad says.

After his NOLS Semester, Copeland spent several months traveling around the American West, before he accepted his position as the Bus Supervisor on the NOLS On the Road: Finding Tomorrow’s Leaders tour. In his new job, the 28-year old will continue to travel all over the country—living in hotels, working on the bus, and spreading the word about NOLS and alternative energy.

“The great group of people attracted me to NOLS. I spent seven years doing something that at the end of the day I didn’t really care about. But now I have the ability to communicate a message about something I believe strongly in and I am really enjoying it. Plus I get to see more of the country” says Copeland.

“NOLS is a positive influence on the leaders of tomorrow,” he continues. “With this job I can multiply my efforts—instead of reaching one person, I can have a greater effect.”

When Copeland is not working as the go-to man on the bus, he enjoys reading, writing, backpacking and anything to do with rivers.