SUNY Cortland’s Outdoor Education Practicum: An Adventure in Leadership, Empathy, and Adaptation

SUNY Cortland’s Outdoor Education Practicum is so much more than a required course for all students enrolled in majors associated with Recreation, Parks, and Leisure studies. This semester-long course, capped by a two-week experience immersed in the Adirondack region, teaches techniques and practices for inclusive outdoor education, organized camping, and back-country travel. The experience cultivates inclusive leadership skills, empathy, and personal growth in emerging professionals in the field. The experience is continuously described as “magic” by students who attend each year. Lessons learned are far from expected but tremendously impactful, often spoken about by students years later as still one of the most formative and life changing experiences they’ve ever had.

When I first transferred to SUNY Cortland to join the Therapeutic Recreation (TR) program there, I was made aware of this “wild” two-week experience that we would be required to take. As an avid lover of the outdoors, camping, and paddling, my first thought was that I was in the right place. Little did I know, there was much more to this program than just perfecting the “J-Stroke” in a canoe or learning to master all those tricky but useful knots. 

When the time came to head out to SUNY Cortland’s Outdoor Education Center in Raquette Lake NY, I was one of only a few students truly excited about the experience. We weren’t allowed to have our phones or computers — something many college students seemingly can’t live without. I, on the other hand, was one of the only students in my class who didn’t have a smartphone, and I had grown up camping every summer with no internet or phone. You could say I was not at all concerned or a stranger to cutting off contact with the “outside world.” While I looked forward to the experience, many of my closest friends dreaded it. I didn’t know it then but recognizing others’ discomfort was the first lesson in empathy from OEP that I still take with me today.

The program is structured into two parts. One part is meant to simulate a centralized camp model on Raquette Lake. The other part is a 6-day canoe trek into the remote wilderness of the Adirondack region. Both parts emphasize inclusion for all abilities, complete with instruction on activity modification and adaptive outdoor equipment. 

The centralized camp has everything you might imagine a children’s summer camp would have. From a flag raising ceremony, to dining hall traditions, to silly camp songs and an “all-camp” craft. A classic children’s sleep-away adventure, but for college students! While I was fortunate enough to have experienced the summer camp model as a child and had fond memories of my time there, many students had never been camping at all. On top of limited exposure to a camp setting, some of the students came from areas of the state or country where outdoor recreation simply isn’t celebrated the same way it is in a region like the Adirondacks. I specifically remember one student from Long Island sharing that her only experience with the outdoors was going to the beach with a fully stocked cooler. 

Another lesson in empathy to carry forward with me: We are all products of our own experiences and environments, and no two perspectives are quite the same. So while I sang every song and embraced the quirky camp traditions, others were more reserved, timid, anxious, and even homesick. As a future recreational therapist, this was important for me to notice.

Most of the students in the course are juniors and much of the coursework that students are exposed to leading up prior to enrollment in OEP is extremely pertinent to the experience there. For example, every recreation major had to take a class in recreation programming. This class involved planning and implementing activities in an afterschool program. The principles of this coursework come into play during OEP because students are responsible for organizing and implementing camp-wide events and programming.

Another prerequisite course was about diversity and inclusion — something that may not seem immediately applicable to wilderness training, but most definitely is. Diversity and inclusion, as it was dissected in the course, was all about recognizing the variance in human experiences and being able to both acknowledge and respect those differences. Then we put it to the test. What’s more immersive than going on a trip with people you don’t know very well with the task of navigating the remote wilderness?

The course and practicum inherently bring to life the question of “How would I feel if…”

How would I feel if I’d never been on a hike, let alone camping, and then I had to complete this course just to get my degree? 

How would I feel if I didn’t know how to swim and was terrified of turning over my canoe? 

How would I feel with an underlying health or mental health condition that heightened my anxiety? 

How would I feel if I had a physical disability that limited my mobility in these elements?

OEP naturally fosters these empathetic curiosities, while teaching future leaders of this generation to think critically about their approach to leadership and fostering group cohesion. In particular, the course highlights how accessible outdoor wilderness travel can be with the right approach, and sometimes with the right adaptive equipment. Since every single rec major has to complete this as a requirement to graduate, no one is excluded or even exempt from the program. Students with service dogs, students who utilize wheelchairs, and students who battle serious mental health conditions are no exception, and it’s pretty incredible to witness many of the personal feats that occur naturally on this trip.