{"id":59313,"date":"2019-07-23T13:47:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T17:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=59313"},"modified":"2019-07-30T10:03:56","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T14:03:56","slug":"spaces-still-available-for-basecamp-outdoor-orientation-trips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2019\/07\/spaces-still-available-for-basecamp-outdoor-orientation-trips\/","title":{"rendered":"Spaces still available for BaseCamp outdoor orientation trips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until she experienced it, Lauren Flowers had no idea how much time in the wilderness could teach her about life in university.<\/p>\n

By the end of her five-day adventure in August 2016, the Physical Education student from Markham felt her eyes had been opened to the Brock journey at her feet.<\/p>\n

Flowers took part in the BaseCamp summer orientation program, which for 10 years has allowed Brock students to embark on various hiking and canoeing trips in the Ontario wilderness while also learning more about the University.<\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s summer orientation programs, which also include Smart Start<\/a> and Leap<\/a>, aim to streamline the transition to post-secondary life while also providing academic and recreational resources to students before they start their studies in September.<\/p>\n

For Flowers, a lifelong camper, the rural northern setting of a canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial Park was familiar; however, the chance to get first-hand tips about life at Brock and living in the Niagara community was all new.<\/p>\n

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Ana Ferreira participated in a BaseCamp backpacking trip in August 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe learned to work together with everyone as we paddled and set up camp, and that was transferrable to class projects, assignments and clubs,\u201d she said. \u201cIt also helped me to meet some of my best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Flowers, Ana Ferreira had very little camping experience before signing up for a five-day backpacking trip in August 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time I ever put up a tent by myself,\u201d said the Kinesiology student from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. \u201cBut the leaders were patient and they also taught us valuable lessons about first-year classes and residence life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having seen the value in their own BaseCamp experiences, Flowers and Ferreira will return to the program this year to lead trips, including hiking and canoeing expeditions in Algonquin and an outdoor experience at Camp Wetaskiwin in Short Hills Provincial Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to work with people like myself who have not spent a lot of time in the wilderness and teach them lessons like how to start a fire and properly put on a heavy backpack,\u201d said Ferreira. \u201cI remember being nervous about those things before I started, but the lessons I learned made the whole experience worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flowers said she\u2019s also excited to pass on practical lessons that relate to beginning university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to tell incoming Badgers to take it one day at a time and to do things that make them happy,\u201d she said. \u201cThey may still be a little nervous, but the trip will provide lots of familiar faces on campus and potentially long-term friendships as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those still hesitant about participating, Ferreira had a final piece of advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what your outdoors experience is up to this point,\u201d she said. \u201cThe guides will teach you everything you need to know and you will feel safe the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spaces are still available in the following BaseCamp trips:<\/p>\n