Adventure Club provides students with opportunities to explore.
After spending time in classes, meetings and dorm rooms, many students look for opportunities to get off campus. That is the appeal of the St. Joe’s Adventure Club.
With more than 600 members, the St. Joe’s Adventure Club enables students to come together in the outdoors, gain leadership skills through experiential learning and meet new people in the community. It is one of approximately 100 student run organizations on campus. The club organizes a wide variety of trips for a large group of people with diverse interests.
“We have a great range of trips,” said Matt Nowak ’19, one of the club officers. “From something as simple as a hike to more complex trips like rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing and dog sledding.”
Kyle Rodier ’19, another club officer, said the Adventure Club is funded each semester by Club Sports, and they meet in Campion to go over things such as budgeting and ideas for planning trips.
There’s no need to be an outdoor enthusiast for admission into the club. All that’s required is the ability to be adventurous and try new things. Kayleigh McCorry ’20, also a club officer, said t the adventure aspect intrigued her the most.
“I was a member of the club my freshman year and went on almost all the trips,” McCorry said. “I enjoyed it and really liked the adventure aspect.”
This club provides students with an excellent opportunity to get off campus and explore on the weekends. Nowak said he’s happy St. Joe’s has a club like this, especially because he doesn’t have a car to travel off campus.
“I was always interested in hiking and the outdoors throughout high school,” Nowak said. “When I got to St. Joe’s, I was really happy they had a club like this so there was something fun to do on the weekends.”
The Adventure Club is a great way for everyone, especially incoming students, to meet new people. Members make friends with people they may not have been able to meet otherwise.
“When you’re hiking, there’s not much else to do other than talk to people,” Rodier said. “It’s great to take in the nature but it really makes you talk to others. This is an experience that you don’t typically get at a city school. It brings people together.”
Back when McCorry was a freshman, she said the club allowed her to expand her range of friends to more than just other freshman.
“As a freshman, I found that most people only interact with other freshman,” McCorry said. “It was cool to use the club as an outlets to meet a variety of different people that I would not have otherwise met.”
The Adventure Club provides students with memorable experiences they won’t soon forget. Ziplining and free falling are certainly amongst those. Students were transported on a cable from point to point on their on their ziplining endeavor. During the free fall, students jumped off an elevated platform while safely harnessed in.
“It was a great four-hour-in-the-trees experience,” Rodier said. “They had an amazing free fall jump. I didn’t expect to do something like that.”
Nowak said it was the most memorable trips he’s been on because he’s never experienced something like it before.
“I’ve never ziplined before,” Nowak said. “We got to go across a lake multiple times in addition to the ropes course. It was an awesome experience.”
Another notable aspect of this club is that it helps people to develop leadership qualities. Rodier said he’s learned how to better lead and work as a team.
“You have to be able to make sure everyone knows where they’re going,” Rodier said. “There’s areas where you have to really direct people. Everyone works together as a team.”
Through his experience in the club, Nowak said he’s become more aware as a leader.
“You have to have the awareness of a leader,” Nowak said. “You have to work hard in order to keep the club running.”
The Adventure Club is currently booking a New Jersey kayaking trip. Trips ranging from cave exploration to whitewater rafting are also in the works.
