The ISU Outdoor Recreation program is abundant with opportunities, offering something for everyone.

Students who work for the program go through a series of certifications before they are able to conduct trips.

“Probably 98 percent of the trips we go on are student conducted,” said Jerry Rupert, assistant director for Outdoor Recreation.

The program accepts applications year-round and can be found on the program’s website.

The process of applying is meant to prepare students professionally and put them through a real application process with interviews, a resume and references. The students who are hired are paid to conduct trips and workshops as well as work behind the desk in State Gym.

Rupert is an avid outdoorsman with a genuine concern for his students.

“For the last nine years, I believe every employee we have had here has graduated,” Rupert said. “We prepare our employees for life after school, and a lot of the stuff they accomplish while here looks great on their resumes.”

Students who work for Outdoor Recreation not only conduct almost all of the trips they go on but also plan them.

Chris Lightfoot, junior in advertising, has been working for the outdoor recreation program for a little more than a year now.

“My favorite part of the job [besides conducting and planning trips] is the workshops, ranging from bike maintenance, how to roll whitewater kayaks, or learning to belay a climber,” Lightfoot said. “It’s a lot of fun to teach people who are interested in these things. If we didn’t have the outdoor rec program, people would never get these opportunities.”

Paige Jensen, junior in communication studies who has worked for the program for a about a year, reminisced on her favorite trip she has been a part of.

“My favorite trip to date was when we went to the Boundary Waters [in Minnesota] this past spring. It was a week-long canoe trip; it was so peaceful and the group was really fun and down for anything,” Jensen said. “It’s just awesome to see how each person progresses throughout the trip. Everyone starts out kind of awkward, but as the trip goes on everyone really comes together”.

Recently both Lightfoot and Jensen, along with one other outdoor rec employee and eight participants, went to Ledges State Park.

“We left midday and biked back roads all the way to Ledges, which was about 18 miles; we then hiked the trails down to the Des Moines River, explored the canyon, grilled out and stargazed,” Lightfoot said. “The weekend trips are a lot of fun; they’re a nice get away.”

The program has brochures outlining each trip its students plan and come out with a new one for each season. 

The program offers some extended winter and spring break trips including skiing and snowboarding in Steamboat, Colo., this upcoming January and surfing in California in the spring, a trip Rupert has to reserve a year in advance.

Recreation Services also caters to individual groups requests, making custom trips for those who are interested. Though slightly more expensive, those trips are designed to meet students’ wants.

“The main people that go on our trips are beginners,” Rupert said. “If there are prerequisites, we make sure they are advertised and give students the opportunity to account for them.”