Email: [email protected]
BS: Anthropology/Archaeology from Texas State University
M.A. Ed.: Teaching and Leadership from Colorado Mesa University
Why you work at the OP: I work at the OP because I love sharing my love of the outdoors and the opportunities to learn from others along the way. Nothing is better than the feeling of helping others develop through amazing experiences and interactions.
Favorite outdoor activity: I love any activity that involves somewhere that I have never seen before. My favorite outdoor activity is rafting...and backpacking...and mountain biking...and snowboarding...and walking through a field of wildflowers...and looking at the stars...and sleeping in a tent! Really, just being in a beautiful place no matter what I am doing.
Coolest talent you have: I can ride a horse and rope a cow at the same time. I'm also a pretty awesome soup maker!
What always makes you smile: I am happiest when I am surrounded by people I love. Things that always make me smile are my dogs, watching a prairie dog run, little kids in ski suits, and when my vegetable seeds first sprout :)
Mantra: Love and move.
Major: MA in Educational Leadership
Why you work at the OP: I have a true passion for the outdoor and the incredible access to public lands surrounding Grand Junction. As the Graduates Assistant at the Outdoor Program, I live to share and teach my passions for the outdoors to both students and staff.
Favorite outdoor activity: My favorite outdoor activities include whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, and skiing.
Coolest talent you have: Wheelie my bike.
What always makes you smile: Helping people figure out how to roll a kayaking and having that aha moment always makes me smile.
Mantra: Do or do not there is no try.
Major: Environmental Science
Major: Biology
Why you work at the OP: it is the best job in the world! I love to see people grow and learn in a way that can only happen in nature :)
Favorite outdoor activity: Rafting and hiking!
Coolest talent you have: flying trapeze
What always makes you smile: breakfast burritos, sunsets on the river
Mantra: Nothing changes if nothing changes
Major: Nursing and a Spanish minor.
Why you work at the OP: Nothing excites me more than exercising and exploring nature with likeminded people who are stoked to do things outside. I also enjoy sharing my love for the outdoors with others who haven’t really had the opportunity to do so before.
Favorite Outdoor Activity: trail running, backpacking, skiing, rafting, and so much more!
Coolest Talent you have: I write sideways.
What are you happiest doing: wildflowers in the summer, kids in ski suits, sunsets, hugs, starry summer nights, fresh mountain air, oh, and peanut butter m&m’s.
Mantra: Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Major: Nursing
Why you work at the OP: Because I have seen what the outdoors can do for people and I want to help people get to experience that.
Favorite outdoor activity: Backpacking and camping, rafting, climbing.
Coolest talent you have: Impersonations, laughing at anything
What always makes you smile: When I understand or learn something new. Passionate people.
Mantra: Get busy living or get busy dying
Major: Business
Why you work at the OP: I started working at the op for the environment and type of people that the OP attracts
Favorite Outdoor Activity: Mountain Biking
Favorite OP Trip: Via Ferrata
What are you happiest doing: Riding my bike on fun flowy trials
Mantra: Smile, Its good for you.
Major: Outdoor Recreation Industry Studies
Why you work at the op: I love spending time with people that just want to be outside. I love forming new connections with people and seeing them allow themselves to be vulnerable in new places.
Favorite outdoor activity: anything and everything! I'm always down to try any new activity, but right now; rafting, climbing, backpacking, snowboarding, and slacklining!!
Coolest talent you have: I can do a headstand almost anywhere
What makes you smile: Seeing the spark in people's eyes when they discover their passion, sitting in your tent when it is raining, exploring new places. DOGS.
Mantra: Any time an opportunity scares you that much, you should seriously consider saying yes.
Major: Mathematics with an emphasis on Secondary Education
Why you work at the OP: I feel the most alive when I am experiencing the outdoors and I want to share those experiences with other people.
Favorite outdoor activity: Highlining and Crack Climbing
Coolest talent you have: Solving a Robix Cube
What always makes you smile: The desert.
Mantra: Be honest. Be kind.
Major: Nursing
Why do you work at the OP: I work at the OP to show other students how awesome the outdoors are while expanding their comfort zones beyond what they would have ever imagined.
Favorite outdoor activity: Climbing big rocks and frozen waterfalls
Strangest talent: I speak Wookie
What are you happiest doing: Playing with outside friends and not taking life to seriously
Mantra: Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement
Major: Outdoor Recreation
Why you work at the OP: To continue to express my love for the outdoors, and share an endless passion to make lasting memories and friendships along the way.
Favorite outdoor activity: Backcountry Snowboarding
Coolest talent you have: I can recite any just about any South Park Episode
What always makes you smile: A hammock, good pow, and a nice sunrise
Mantra: It's all mental
Major: Business Marketing
Why you work at the OP: For the love of the outdoors and to share it with rad people
Favorite outdoor activity: Backpacking and Climbing
Coolest talent you have: Ping-Pong
What always makes you smile: Mountains and Clouds
Mantra: It's all mental
Major: Accounting
Why you work at the OP: I work at the OP because I enjoy learning new skills and teaching skills to other people who love the outdoors
Favorite outdoor activity: CLIMBING!!!
Coolest talent you have: I can make a mean pot of Mac & Cheese
What always makes you smile: Seeing new areas of this rock we live on
Mantra: Every morning decide that you will have a good day.
Major: Criminal Justice
Why you work at the OP: To get outside and enjoy the world
Favorite outdoor activity: Off-roading in my truck
Coolest talent you have: I can fix just about anything
What always makes you smile: Being outside
Mantra: Ride for those who cannot
Major: Outdoor Recreation Industry Studies
Why I work at the OP: I love all types of outdoor activities and I think helping people have fun and memorable experiences in the outdoors is super rad.
Favorite Outdoor Activity: Mountain Biking
Coolest Talent I Have: Doing pullups on door frames.
What always makes me smile: Flying through the woods on a perfectly built flow trail.
Mantra: Ride fast, take chances.
Major: Environmental Science
Why I work at the OP: I love the outdoors but didn’t really know what to do to enjoy them. The OP was a great opportunity for me to learn about all the fun things to do in the area and now I want to share them with other people.
Favorite outdoor activity: Hiking
Coolest talent I have: I can make fried pickles
What always makes me smile: Rainy days
Mantra: “Whoever is happy will make others happy too”
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Why you work at the OP: I have always had a love for the outdoors, learning new things, and teaching others about what I love. So, having an opportunity to do all those things at the Outdoor Program is a dream come true.
Favorite Outdoor activity: Backcountry skiing and Mountain biking
Coolest talent you have: I can do the wave with my eyebrows
What always makes you smile: Free food and furry animals
Mantra: "Hurry every chance you get" - Gary Krabbe
Major: Exercise Science
Why you work at the OP: I really enjoy going outside and learning more and more about the outdoors and wanting to teach it to others who are interested in getting in to outdoor activities or learn about new ones.
Favorite outdoor activity: Climbing, backpacking, mountain biking
Coolest talent you have: I can eat really spicy foods unfazed
What always make me smile: Being outside whether I’m alone or with people
Mantra: You never know until you try
Major: Graphic Design & Minor in Studio Art
Why I work at the OP: The Outdoor Program will forever hold a special place in my heart. It creates a safe environment for students to go out of their comfort zones and fall in love with so many levels of the Outdoors. I get to expose people to the outdoors and show them not only my passion but help them find theirs in this beautiful world.
Favorite Outdoor Activity: Hiking, Camping, Backpacking & every moment within. I am always open to new outdoor experiences!
Cool Talent: I am an Art Queen.
What always makes you smile: Fresh air on top of a mountain & black coffee in the morning- or any studio day.
Mantra: “Be the woman you shiver to be and be the woman that scares the absolute crap out of you and for the sake of the sun, by the woman that makes you feel so alive your coffee hits like ecstasy, and you become the kind of magic we were taught not to believe in.” - Brooke Solis
Major : Business administration with an Associate’s degree in Baking and Pastry Arts
Why I work at the OP : I work at the OP because the outdoors are always a place that I have felt the most at home and at peace and I want to share that joy with as many people as possible
Favorite Outdoor activity : Skiing!!, specifically tree skiing on a powder day, backpacking, and mountain biking
Coolest talent : I am really good at assembling Ikea furniture
What always makes you smile : Being able to accomplish my goals and seeing others succeed in a situation when they might have otherwise doubted themselves.
Mantra : Just do the next right thing
Major: Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology
Why you work at the OP: As a bicycle mechanic, I love to fix things and help people, so that they can have the best time of their lives.
Favorite outdoor activity: Soccer and cycling
Coolest talent you have: Luck
What always makes you smile: Positivity
Mantra: "Allah is the friend of those who believe: He brings them out of every kind of darkness into light" - The Holy Qur'an [2:258]