The AORE 2016 Annual Conference might be behind us, but for two of our Student Members, the year hasn’t slowed down a bit.
Meet Rachel Skeen and Grant Sachs.
Members in Motion
An Interview with Rachel Skeen and Grant Sachs
By Casey Dunphy, AORE BOD Student Representative
Rachel, from the University of Central Florida (UCF), experienced her first AORE conference this year and Grant, from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse (UWLC), has been to two AORE Annual Conferences since his time at UWLC. AORE involvement has been instrumental in growing both of these young leaders into well-rounded student professionals.
“This past conference was my first experience with AORE ,” Rachel commented, “It was a wonderful opportunity to not only meet other people in the field of outdoor recreation, but it also provided multiple resources, both at the conference and online, that will help me move forward deciding on my future career.”
Reflecting on his time with AORE, Grant noted, “To be in the same place as so many like-minded people is amazing and inspires me even more to step it up and do bigger and better things. Being inspired by so many others motivates me to keep doing more and really shows what is possible with some hard work and dedication. On top of that, the opportunities and networking leave me so excited and driven for whatever is next.”
In addition to being rising leaders at AORE, Rachel and Grant were selected to serve as the 2017 Outdoor Nation and Merrell Campus Ambassadors. Outdoor Nation, an AORE Strategic Partner, aims to empower millennials to champion the outdoors as athletes, artists, advocates, and ambassadors. The organization is famous for the National Campus Challenge – which our very own Organization Member, Humboldt State, won the 2016 title, “Most Outdoorsy College of the Year.”
Through the program, Outdoor Nation generously supplies each Ambassador’s university outdoor program with a $1,000 grant. When asked how he plans on using the funds, Grant from University of Wisconsin La Crosse (UWLC) replied, “Our program plans to facilitate a weekend trip with the multicultural organization here on campus. We are determined to incorporate more diversity in our trip programs so we want to offer the trip specifically to that organization for little or no cost to them.”
AORE cannot wait to watch Rachel and Grant advance in our industry. Thank you to Outdoor Nation for inspiring millennials to protect, promote, and love our wild places.
8