Lauren Stover was on a backpacking trip in college when she realized she wanted a career in outdoor recreation.

“There was a point where I got to the top (of the mountain), and it was the hardest thing I had ever done,” said Stover, program coordinator of outdoor education at the Department of Recreation Services. “And from that point on it was like, ‘What a great feeling.’ And then I realized I could get paid to give other people that feeling.”

Stover manages the Syracuse University Outdoor Education Center and Challenge Course located on South Campus, along with Scott Catucci, associate director of outdoor education and student development, and several student facilitators. Built in the summer of 2013, it took eight years of planning for the course to come to life after Catucci began working at SU in 2005.

The purpose of the course is more than fun and games. Catucci and Stover prepare extensively to give every group that uses the course the best experience possible. Once the two know what each group is hoping to gain from using the course — be it communication skills, leadership traits or getting to know each other — they plan out a program on the course that will help the group reach its goals.

“We’re trying to model a real microcosm experience that they can learn from when they come to our course and identify the skills they worked on and learned and bring them back to their real life,” Catucci said.

Catucci and Stover said that some of the people who come to use the course love it so much that they end up working at the course as facilitators themselves.

Senior Ryan Wiese is a student facilitator for the course. The aerospace engineering major has been working for Catucci since his freshman year.

As a student facilitator, Wiese helps run the programs when groups come to use the course. He helps them use the equipment and course properly and makes sure everyone is on track and following directions.

Wiese met Catucci during the pre-orientation Leadership Outdoor Orientation Program. Wiese also said he benefits from the ability to meet new people with diverse stories and backgrounds while working on the course.

“It’s a job that I enjoy waking up in the morning to go do,” Wiese said. “It’s something I do that helps me understand people better.”

Catucci described the challenge course as an emotional experience in some ways. He described the feeling of accomplishing a goal on the course as very rewarding.

“I’ve seen all of the groups become sentimental in some sense because it’s an emotional experience for people when they step out of their comfort zone,” Catucci said.

One of the most rewarding parts of Catucci and Stover’s job is that they get to learn alongside the groups they guide on the course. As much as they’re teaching leadership and interpersonal skills everyday, they’re learning just as much.

“It’s a dream come true,” Catucci said. “It’s something that I’ve been looking forward to ever since I’ve got here. It’s amazing.”

Published on April 2, 2015 at 12:32 am

Contact Alex: aerdekia@syr.edu