Outdoor Adventures opens registration to students

By John Paul da Roza

CONTRIBUTOR

With the semester underway, many students are already being bombarded with essays, projects and other assignments. People are beginning to spend more time in the Copley Library, while others prefer to drink some coffee and study in Aromas. If you are one of these people and you are already looking to take a break from classes, USD’s Outdoor Adventures is offering registration for various enjoyable upcoming trips for this semester.

Outdoor Adventures is accepting participants who want to camp, swim, hike, kayak, surf engage in other adventures to sign up for their trips.

For many USD students, the most appealing aspects of OA are the break trips and overnight trips.For modest prices that cover transportation, permits, equipment and eating expenses, students may hike through southern Utah, swim near the Grand Canyon and more.

However, for those who cannot commit to longer trips just yet, OA offers attractive one-day adventures around the San Diego community including moonlight canoeing, snorkeling in La Jolla, stand up paddleboarding and horseback riding.

Whatever option you pick, the sooner the better to register for the trips as spaces are filling up. OA Program Manager, Mark Cedar, said, “We [Outdoor Adventures] have already served over 800 students with outings this semester.”

According to Greg Zackowski, Director of Outdoor Recreation and Sustainability Programming, OA trips provide students with a vast amount of benefits. Students get the opportunity to work up some physical activity, meet new friends, gain knowledge about the environment they wish to visit, and more.

“The reason we exist is three fold. One is the students get pretty significant leadership development… Then, there’s the pure recreation aspect and the third thing is for students to find each other” Zackowski said.

Some of the most popular trips include visiting the Black Canyon Hot Springs, Zion National Park and Havasu Falls by the Grand Canyon. According to Cedar, last year, about 250 students attended the break trips.

Junior OA guide, Brandon Bol described why he enjoyed these trips so much.

“My favorite trip is the Black Canyon trip, where we go up the Colorado River to the Hoover Dam and we were sitting on canoes about 200 feet from the Dam.” Bol said. He continued, “The reason I liked the trip was because you really get to bond with the people out there. It’s an extended trip so you really get to know them. Academics are great, but this just really brings everyone together and you get to know them all on a more personal level.”

During the trip to the Zion National Park, participants will be able to hike through the terrain and bike through the hills.

As for the Havasu Falls trip, everyone gets to backpack through the canyon and swim near the waterfalls.

Furthermore, junior and former participant of the freshman Pre-O trips, Tony Alarcon said, “OA was great to meet new friends with similar interests.” He added, “On Pre-O, I met a people who I am still friends with today.

Alarcon continued to say that he plans on attending the Havasu Trip, “I want to meet new friends while learning about and enjoying the canyon scenery.”

Furthermore, junior Jake Brouker has not yet attended an OA trip but plans to this semester.

“I’m going to sign up for the Mission Gorge day trip. It’ll be fun to just go on a trip for a day to rock climb and take a breather from school work,” Brouker said.

OA encourages everyone to sign up, whether you are a freshman or senior, or whether you plan to go on multiple trips or only one.

And for those of you who are not interested in any trips, OA can still help you.

“Students can rent equipment like a paddleboard, kayak, and more. All you need is a student ID card or a credit card,” Zackowski said.