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"NOLS was my first experience of taking something
that was hard and overcoming it," says Janice. "Since
then, I've done a lot of traveling and a lot
of things that were really scary and hard. I
came away from NOLS with a feeling
that the outdoors was something I belonged to
and that belonged to me."
Janice
Bloom
Wind River Wilderness, 1988; Southwest Outdoor
Educators Course, 1997
High School teacher
“The instructors…amazing people, both incredibly skilled
and at the same time willing to teach all
levels. These people are filled with passion for what
they do.“
Emily Dolci
Fall Semester in the Southwest,
1999
Haverford College Student
"My NOLS course was critical. It opened up many opportunities
for what I do now.
Confidence, leadership, caring for the environment, and active participation
in our world were all lessons that NOLS encouraged. Now I am just trying
to figure out how we can help pass these life skills along to others."
Chris
Gergen
Spring Semester in the Rockies, 1989
Founder of the Leadership Enterprise Action Directive (LEAD!) program for
high school students
"I've been a manager at companies like Microsoft
and now am president of a public company. I
view elements of my NOLS education as crucial to my business
practices."
Bruce Jacobsen
Adventure Course, 1975; Mountain Ski
Touring Course, 1979; Rock Climbing Course, 1981
entrepeneur
“When I think back, I believe NOLS impacted my life
as much as high school or
college. Thirty days versus four years. Pretty incredible.“
George Phipps
Wind River Wilderness, 1982
Managing Partner, Oak Hill Investment Management
“I had never had the opportunity to be a leader like
I did with NOLS. The NOLS
education that I obtained on my semester was amazing.“
Patrick Kiely
Spring Semester in the Rockies ’01
St. Michael’s College Student
“The leadership skills I gained at NOLS definitely helped me later in
life as a student, scientist, and astronaut. Various aspects of
my NOLS education were
perfect for astronaut training: enjoying adversity, making decisions
under stress, leadership skills, teamwork, team building, enjoying nature,
learning science,
hands-on training. . .“
John Grunsfeld
Wind River Wilderness Course ’74, Snow and
Ice Climbing Course ’86
NASA Astronaut
" I love teaching wilderness courses because of the age group and because
you can show and the students can take personal responsibility.
What we impart to the
students in those terms can really be applied to their lives,
how to take responsibility for one's actions and how those actions affect others.
We
show
them how they
can transfer skills to the front country. During the course,
they just get totally jazzed about the skills that they are learning."
Sam
Talucci
NOLS Instructor
“ I like to give students the skills and tools to succeed as leaders and
then give
them real responsibilities and challenges to tackle.”
Brien
Sheedy
NOLS Instructor
“ The leadership skills I gained at NOLS definitely helped me later in
life as a student, scientist, and astronaut. Various aspects
of my NOLS education were
perfect for astronaut training: enjoying adversity, making
decisions under stress, leadership skills, teamwork, team building, enjoying
nature,
learning science,
hands-on training. . .“
John Grunsfeld
Wind River
Wilderness Course ’74,
Snow and Ice Climbing Course ’86
NASA Astronaut
“Why do I work for NOLS? First, I like teaching. NOLS courses provide a
stupendous avenue to teach people who are highly motivated to learn. And finally,
it’s
the people I work with. The NOLS community is great.”
Jim Ferguson
NOLS Instructor
" My semester in Kenya opened the door to adventure
by taking my curiosity and love of the outdoors and giving
me the tools and
confidence to apply them anywhere
on planet Earth."
Sam Maecham
Semester in , 1985
Explorer, founder of Grupo de Exploracion Ox Bel
Ha (GEO)
“NOLS is really the foundation for everything
I do in the outdoors and it’s
not an exaggeration to say that every week I use something
that I learned at NOLS.“
Tori Murden
Semester in Alaska, 1985; Semester in
Kenya, 1986
First woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean
" As the course goes on, students get a bit grimier, a bit hairier, and
they start to get a little more real. I try to model
values of commitment and leadership
for the group, and I do so with actions rather than
words. Anyone can become an effective leader given the opportunity and leadership
tools
.
Atila Rego-Monteiro
NOLS Patagonia Instructor
“People talk about wild areas all the time, but Alaska has a wildness and
beauty unlike anywhere else. When our group finally made it to a summit, we just
went
wild. I’ll never forget that feeling of being
on a mountain where hardly anyone else has ever been.”
Ryan Hughes
Semester in Alaska, 1999
University of Maine Student
“We were walking through areas where nobody had ever been before. You start
to realize this as you venture away from the river and know that you’re
one of the few people in the world to have seen this
place.“
Mike DiDonna
Semester in Australia, 1999
Hampshire College Student
“There is a special learning that takes place in wilderness areas such
as the Yukon. Such learning is not a part of a traditionally
structured, academic classroom.
It can only be found in the outdoors, in the wilderness
beyond the rigid structure of academics.”
Robert Cullen
Yukon Outdoor
Educator Course, 2000
Teacher
“Out there on the ocean, I found that inner champion inside of me that
has no fear and refuses to quit. It was transforming
and I will never forget it. We became kayakers out there, but most of all,
we became
leaders.”
Erran Matthews
Baja Sea Kayaking, 2000
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