2020
STATE OF THE SCHOOL REPORT
NOLS emboldens us to step forward. Daniel Lay
TABLE OF CONTENTS ENGAGEMENT Meeting an Audacious Challenge: NOLS in 2020...................................7 GIVING The NOLS Fund.................................10 The NOLS Endowment...................13 Planned Giving..................................14 HIGHLIGHTS Risk Management.............................16 Financial..............................................18
NOLS SUPPORTERS..............................25
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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
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“ We know you, like us, believe that in this time of great challenges . . . NOLS and the profound impact it has on students are more important than ever.” — Greg Avis
4 | State of the School Report 2020
have been on the job as the Chair of the NOLS Board of Trustees for just six months—including the last four months of calendar year 2020—and it’s been both humbling and exciting. I am thankful to my predecessor Marc Randolph, who led the board brilliantly as NOLS navigated a leadership transition and the COVID-related crisis. Thanks also to my fellow Trustees, who are all passionate about NOLS and who give generously of their time and resources. On behalf of the board, I extend our gratitude to staff and instructors who braved this unprecedented last year with us and our compassion to those who have been furloughed or laid off. I am also very grateful to those named in these pages. The state of the school is strong and, despite the deep challenges 2020 brought us, NOLS is gaining momentum with every classroom or field course and every excellent student outcome. That’s due largely to the generous folks listed in this report, who supported NOLS when the school needed it most. You stepped forward—many of you as first-time donors—to help us weather this storm and put us in a position to reopen as conditions and protocols allowed. In fact, it was due to your generosity that we successfully closed out the fiveyear, $30 million Step Forward Campaign, the largest ever attempted by this organization, at the end of 2020. We send our deepest thanks to all donors, volunteers, and staff who contributed to the campaign’s success. The lessons we have learned from last year’s challenges and successes will inform us as we look forward. The primary responsibilities of this board are the long-term health and sustainability of NOLS, supporting the faculty and staff, and making sure the school is properly positioned and resourced to carry out its mission. To that end, our focus in Fiscal Year 2021 is
on 1) stewarding the endowment—a lifeline for NOLS— and other resources, and 2) supporting President Terri Watson and her team as they execute their plans for NOLS to not only manage through this crisis but also emerge as an even stronger institution. What does that mean? From our perspective, it means being strong financially, being a more inclusive and equitable organization, and making sound investments in people and other assets that advance the NOLS mission of serving students. Toward those goals, we’ve looked to ourselves to see what we can do to be a better governing body. Preliminary actions include instituting a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion board committee, increasing frequency of board communications with Terri, streamlining the committee structure, and planning periodic listening sessions to increase our accessibility to NOLS faculty and staff. Thank you for all your efforts on behalf of NOLS during this difficult time. We know you, like us, believe that in this time of great challenges, from COVID-19 to climate change to inequality to social polarization, NOLS and the profound impact it has on students are more important than ever. We are excited about the opportunities ahead, made possible only by your support.
Greg Avis Chair of the Board of Trustees
Karolina Bassa
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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“We appreciate all of you who heard our call for help and stepped up to ensure that NOLS will be here for another 55 years.”
hank you for taking the time to review this State of the School report. If it appeared in your inbox, you are a friend and supporter of the school—and we appreciate it. While donor generosity sustains NOLS every year, your gifts provided an essential pandemic lifeline this year. Fiscal Year 2020 started normally. Because NOLS’ fiscal year begins in September, we were already six months into a very successful fall/winter season, and anticipating our 55th anniversary, when the Covid-19 global pandemic turned our world—in fact, the whole world—upside down. The story on page 6 of this report, Meeting an Audacious Challenge: NOLS in 2020, spells out in long form the challenges we faced and the steps we took in response to the pandemic. In short, though, we pulled students from the field and classrooms, cancelled courses, sent employees home, cancelled anniversary celebration plans, and instituted a painful reduction in force of valuable and valued team members. And we reached out to you, describing our need for support. You responded in record numbers, often with heartfelt messages of appreciation.
Meanwhile, demand for NOLS courses never wavered. We were hampered by other factors—notably safety concerns and travel restrictions—and set about to find ways to resume our work. A restart task force was convened in April and a much-reduced number of expedition courses were able to resume in July, while Wilderness Medicine and Risk Services offered online courses. Much of this was able to happen because of support from you. We are grateful. There are an astonishing 1,219 new donors listed in the pages of this report, a significant number of whom are Wilderness Medicine grads. Thank you. There are thousands of names in these pages, many who have donated to NOLS for years. Thank you. We appreciate all of you who heard our call for help and stepped up to ensure that NOLS will be here for another 55 years.
Terri Watson President
— Terri Watson
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ENGAGEMENT
MEETING AN AUDACIOUS CHALLENGE: NOLS IN 2020 by Anne McGowan Development Communications Coordinator
6 | State of the School Report 2019 2020
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here’s a leadership skill taught at NOLS that tops the list for many folks as the most important lesson learned on a course: tolerance for adversity and uncertainty. This year has dramatically tested that skill, for those at NOLS and many, many people around the globe. NOLS President Terri Watson, who stepped into that top role in January 2020, is one of those who deeply believes in the value of tolerance for adversity and uncertainty. “For me, it’s the skill that’s the most powerful,” she said. “If I can learn to live in a world where things are hard and I don’t have all the information, and I don’t know when it’s going to get better—if I can do that, I think I can do anything.” That belief served NOLS and Terri well, as just two and a half months after her first official day as president, the spread of COVID-19 completely upended our operations.
Kirk Rasmussen
To protect staff and students from the global pandemic, and to comply with escalating governmental restrictions on travel, NOLS stopped classroom courses in mid-March, permanently shuttered the Yukon location, and cancelled all field programming through at least July 1. NOLS Wilderness Medicine, Risk Services, Custom Education, and Alumni Trips, in addition to Expeditions, ground to a halt. This resulted in the almost complete loss of revenue for the indefinite future. The upshot: significant layoffs were, unfortunately, the only conceivable way the school could remain viable for the long term, and to position ourselves to start educating students again in the future.
Sanjana Govind
“If I can learn to live in a world where things are hard and I don’t have all the information, and I don’t know when it’s going to get better—if I can do that, I think I can do anything.” So, as valued employees were let go, and the skeleton crew who remained were sent home to work in safety, plans were already being made for ramping back up, leading students back into classrooms and into the field to do what we do best: teach.
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Philanthropy in a Pandemic As word spread about the precarious state NOLS was in, a record shattering number of donors stepped forward to help. Loyal supporters upped their gifts, friends we had lost touch with reappeared, and sizable numbers of new donors contributed gifts of all sizes. Many came with a note saying, “NOLS has to continue,” or “I want NOLS to be here for my grandchildren.” With that enthusiastic response, we felt emboldened to continue efforts toward our Step Forward Campaign goal, even though we were more than $5 million shy of the $30 million goal, and in a pandemic. We are pleased to announce that, thanks to our many supporters, we exceeded our Step Forward Campaign goal with $31M raised as of December 31, 2020. As philanthropy became a growing percentage of our revenues, we were especially grateful to all who helped us reach this landmark objective—to over 8,800 donors who donated in the last five years to support access and affordability, campus improvements, and immediate support for the school. Kirk Rasmussen
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Kirk Rasmussen
A Path to Recovery Through the spring, NOLS continued to propel forward, assembling a Restart Task Force. Charged with envisioning and enumerating steps to welcome students back to the wilderness and classrooms in a way that was COVID-19 compliant and safe, the task force managed to do just that while retaining the essence of a NOLS experience. Slowly, some campuses opened. Summer courses started on July 2 with a mix of 19 Expedition, six Alumni, and six Custom Education courses, leaving from Wyoming’s Lander and Three Peaks Ranch locations. Other pillars of the school pivoted to online offerings, notably the very successful Wilderness Risk Management Conference in October and a wide offering from Wilderness Medicine. NOLS Patagonia ran local educator courses, serving 400 students. A commitment to transparency about challenges, including instructor attrition, coexisted with pride in the completion of the cabins at NOLS Wilderness Medicine’s Wyss Campus.
“We’re weathering the storm, we can see a path to recovery,” Terri told instructors and staff at a monthly all-staff meeting. “It feels great to be doing courses again, and I offer huge thanks and congratulations to the NOLS community for pulling all this off. Only at NOLS could we undertake these heavy lifts and succeed.”
“It feels great to be doing courses again, and I offer huge thanks and congratulations to the NOLS community for pulling all this off.”
Anniversaries At the brink of 2020, and under the direction of the first new president in 25 years (and the first-ever woman president ever), we stood open to changes in the organization, prepared to honor where we came from while anticipating new ways of operating. Significantly, we were also excited and prepared to celebrate a trio of anniversaries. NOLS was founded 55 years ago; NOLS Wilderness Medicine was established 30 years ago; and the two joined forces 20 years ago. That’s 85 years of leadership and wilderness education, deeply worthy of commemorating—deeply worthy of gathering with our alumni,
supporters, and friends and having a party, in fact. A planned autumn celebration was not to be, but the vision behind Paul Petzoldt’s creation of a school that “taught the teachers,” and the foresight of the founders of NOLS Wilderness Medicine to instruct others to recognize, treat, and prevent wilderness emergencies deserves recognition from us all—even if we’re not together to do so. Let’s meet again in October 2021, if it’s safe to do so, and raise a glass (or a Nalgene) to our past—and our future. Built for This As we look to that future, our 55th year has left us with many learnings, but central among them is this: NOLS
was built for this. We were made to meet the audacious challenges this year brought us. We know how to deal with the adversity brought about by declining revenue from forces beyond our control. We can tolerate the uncertainty that comes with not knowing when our wilderness and brick and mortar classrooms will be available to us. “These times are hard, but we are not only tolerating adversity and uncertainty, we are finding out how to thrive and move forward,” Terri said of the challenges of 2020. “We are learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable, and counting on each other as teammates in this latest adventure. We are NOLS. We got this.”
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GIVING | THE NOLS FUND
NOLS FUND SURPASSES GOAL IN CHALLENGING YEAR
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n a year beset with financial challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, 1,219 new donors and 2,098 sustained donors generously stepped forward to push the NOLS Fund over its fundraising goal. And not just by a little. The fund reached an unprecedented 138 percent of goal, allowing the school to stay open and begin to reach a point where Trustees and the President could map out a vision for the future.
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Total cash exceeded $3.1 million with a 69.9 percent retention rate (an increase from 53 percent in fiscal year 2019). The number of new donors nearly doubled, and we saw a significant increase in the number of gifts from Wilderness Medicine alumni. This critical funding source has helped offset massive revenue losses the school suffered from the pandemic shutdown.
Austin Danicic
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Thank You My NOLS course was evacuated in mid-March, 2020, from the San Juan River halfway through our semester. On the last morning of our course, we loaded our gear and gathered by the water for a reentry briefing. The instructors who’d come to collect us told a story of a changed world, with new norms and new rules about how we could interact with strangers. We were told we would not be allowed to use public restrooms or to even leave the vans except when we made it to the woods. We were told to stay away from strangers, to be cautious in our interactions so as to lower our chances of contracting the new virus that was quickly changing the rules of society. One of the instructors, her tone urgent, said, “Please, listen to what we’re saying and take this virus seriously, but do not take all of this to mean that you should altogether turn your backs on others. Now is the time to come together, at a safe distance, and to connect with others and to look out for everyone around you because they are still your neighbors and they will need your help.” What I heard was, if we’re going to make it through this, it will be because we do it together. This emphasis on connection, on acting out of love and not out of fear, characterizes the most important lessons I learned at NOLS. In the backcountry there are many times when you must trust those around you and put the interest of the group ahead of your own self-interest. Transitioning from a NOLS course to a life where we were literally being asked to cut ourselves off from others, was as strange and difficult a transition as I have ever experienced. But life’s lessons are found in times of challenge, and this one showed me how vital it is for people to experience a NOLS course. To come together and learn how to hold others up and to put your own problems behind your group’s problems—these are the lessons that we need today. I am so incredibly grateful for this perspective I now have and to those who made my experience possible. I owe an enormous debt to you.
D.E. - Spring Semester for Outdoor Educators
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Eric Page
GIVING | THE NOLS ENDOWMENT
ENDOWMENT IS FISCAL BRIGHT SPOT
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he NOLS Endowment sustained significant losses in the spring as a result of the sudden economic shutdown brought about by COVID-19, but then rebounded sharply by summer, as domestic stock markets reached new highs. By August 31, 2020, the endowment saw a gain of $6.95 million, a significant return under any circumstances, and the highest since Fiscal Year 2014. The year-end market value of the endowment was $55.9 million, which compares with a value of $48.55 million as of August 31, 2019.
Daniel Lay
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HIGHLIGHTS | RISK MANAGEMENT
RISK MANAGEMENT 2020
isk and consequence make our education relevant and practical. Risk is inherent in the remote locations through which we travel and our approach to risk is one of respect gained through knowledge, skill, experience, and expertise. We value critical thinking, reflection on experiences, resilience in difficult times, and commitment to our students; and we continually enhance our systems of risk management as societal expectations change, wilderness travel techniques evolve, and technology improves and develops. Risk management is a core element of our curriculum. Our risk management performance in 2020 was successful, but also very different. Our normal metrics of performance are skewed as a result of suspending programming from mid-March to July and then only conducting a small slate of courses in the last two months of the fiscal year. The following are some details from the year:
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• There were 277 medical incidents (injuries and illnesses) reported—221 less than average. There were 100 injuries (128 less than average), and 177 illnesses (93 less than average).
During July and August there were eight people on field courses with COVID-19 symptoms; four were tested, and all were negative. There was no COVID19 illness on field or Wilderness Medicine courses.
• There were 64 medical evacuations—93 less than average. The evacuation rate of 0.96 evacuations per 1,000 program days is average.
• Out of all field course students, 12 percent had a reportable injury or illness and 8 percent had a non-medical incident. Ninety-six percent of our students graduated.
• There was only one serious injury, a skin infection. There were no bone fractures, which is unusual.
Rate/1,000 Program Days
R
5.0 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0
NOLS Medical Incident and Evacuation Rates 4.17 3.04
2.81
2.77
Medical Incidents Medical Evacuations
1.12
1.00
34 Year Avg. 1985-2019
10 Year Avg. 2009-2019
0.96 5 Year Avg. 2014-2019
0.96 2020
Kirk Rasmussen
RISK MANAGEMENT IN ACTION Typically in this section we describe a significant evacuation or a situation where our risk management practices came to bear with a serious injury or illness. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic occupied our attention for over half of the fiscal year. The novel coronavirus came onto our radar in late December 2019. We kept watch on its development and spread in January and February and developed protocols and procedures in the event COVID-19 might show up at one of our locations or on a course. By mid-March with impending pandemic-related travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders, we suspended programming for all our field and classroom courses. We ended 14 of 17 field courses early in five countries and evacuated 163 students. Wilderness Medicine cancelled 500 courses, affecting 11,840 students. Our Crisis Management Protocol was used effectively to guide our handling of this unprecedented action. Combined with our standard evacuation procedures, it provided a solid foundation for our response. While we had to adapt and formulate plans in the moment, the protocol provided valuable structure.
Moving from a state of suspension to limited reopening of our field and wilderness medicine classrooms demanded careful attention to guidance provided by public health departments, medical advisors, and consultation with other organizations. Adopting public health guidance of physical distancing, wearing face masks, and washing hands were simple concepts, but challenging to implement. Communicating the risks to students and staff, training instructors, adapting teaching practices, rethinking campus operations, and revising evacuation procedures required teamwork, flexibility, and non-stop decision-making. Ultimately, we provided much sought-after educational opportunities for our students as we supported our instructors in achieving great outcomes on courses. This success would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of all the NOLS instructors who worked in the field and classrooms and the administrative staff who were creative at solving problems and flexible in adapting to this unique situation.
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HIGHLIGHTS | FINANCIAL
NOLS CONFRONTS FISCAL CHALLENGES OF 2020
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he 2020 fiscal year, which concluded on August 31, was a most unusual one for NOLS and for society. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic last winter required NOLS to cancel spring programs and greatly decrease summer course offerings, severely reducing our operating revenues relative to budget. The school responded by cutting expenses significantly, including a difficult but necessary reduction in staff, while also planning intensively for how we could get programs back into the field and classroom safely and quickly. The impact of the operating loss suffered during the year is a reduced but still significant financial cushion, the result of deliberate management during the year, a very strong response from our donors, and thoughtful long-term contingency planning by school leadership in decades past. Endowment and Capital Reserve One significant financial bright spot from 2020 is the NOLS endowment, which endured steep losses in the spring as the world economy was hit by the pandemic, only to be followed by a strong recovery and new market highs by the end of the fiscal year. The endowment ended the year with a record value of $55.9
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million after realizing a net investment return of 14.1%, a significant return under any circumstances, and even more remarkable given the economic climate. The NOLS capital reserve, a separate pool of capital built to support future initiatives that is invested alongside endowment assets, enjoyed similar investment results and ended the fiscal year at $10.4 million. We were pleased not to have to turn to these critically important capital assets as part of our response to the pandemic. Operating Results Program revenue for the fiscal year reflects the loss of spring and summer programming due to the pandemic, with a decrease of 48%, from nearly $32.3 million in FY19 to $16.8 million in FY20. However, this revenue loss was partly offset by significant increases in contributions (from $4.7 million in FY19 to $6.6 million in FY20) and investment gain, which together brought total revenues to 83.7% of FY19’s total. Operating expense of $27.5 million for FY20 was only 77% of expense for FY19, a reduction of about $8.3 million. Taken together, these operating results provided a surprising boost to net assets of $4.3 million, from $99.4 million at the end of
FY19 to $103.3 million at the conclusion of this year. Other financial highlights include the following: • The endowment release to operations totaled $1.69 million, following the spending formula long in use and consistent with spending in recent years (adjusted for growth). • We were pleased to receive a grant of $407,000 from the State of Wyoming, reimbursing us for COVIDrelated mitigation costs through funds provided under the CARES Act. • Property, plant, and equipment decreased by $1.2 million, the result of depreciation accruals netted against capital improvements. The exhibits that follow include balance sheets for FY20 and FY19; the growth of the NOLS endowment since 2013; a summary breakdown of revenue and expenses; statements of activities for FY20 and FY19; and a seven-year summary of financial highlights.
NOLS Endowment $60,000,000 $55,878,000
$55,000,000 $50,000,000 $48,390,000
$45,000,000 $44,725,000
$40,000,000
$39,564,000
$35,000,000 $34,484,000
$30,000,000 $25,000,000
$30,641,000
$31,159,000
2014
2015
$24,288,000
$20,000,000 $15,000,000 $10,000,000 2013
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
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Shannon Givens
HIGHLIGHTS | FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES NOLS Balance Sheet
Expenses
Aug. 31, 2020 and 2019 Assets
2020
2019
Cash
$6,794,000
$9,337,000
Investments
18,039,000
16,886,000
Endowment investments
55,878,000
48,390,000
970,000
1,037,000
2,410,000
2,989,000
320,000
1,171,000
1,173,000
1,228,000
Receivables Pledges receivable Prepaid expenses Merchandise Other
1,039,000
1,188,000
26,978,000
28,062,000
$113,601,000
$110,288,000
$1,000,000
-
2020
2019
Accounts payable
$4,113,000
$4,626,000
Student deposits
4,800,000
6,304,000
Property, plant, and equipment net Total assets Line of credit Liabilities and net assets
Total liabilities
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9,913,000
10,930,000
Net assets
103,688,000
99,358,000
Total liabilities and net assets
$113,601,000
$110,288,000
70% Program
27% Administration 3% Fundraising
Revenue 49% Tuition and Fees 26% Investment Earnings 21% Philanthropic 4% Other Program Revenue
NOLS Statement of Activities
For the fiscal years ending Aug. 31, 2020 and 2019 Revenues and Other Support
Without Donor Restrictions
With Donor Restrictions
Total 2020
Total 2019
$15,670,000
-
$15,470,000
$30,661,000
Program revenues Tuition and fees Other program revenues
1,354,000
-
1,354,000
1,682,000
$16,824,000
-
$16,824,000
$32,343,000
Contributions and grants
3,133,000
3,461,000
6,593,000
4,672,000
Released from endowment
1,070,000
-1,170,00
-
-
440,000
-440,000
-
-
Total program revenue Fundraising activities
Net assets released from restriction for Program Buildings and Equipment Total fundraising revenue
365,000
-365,000
-
-
$5,108,000
$1,486,000
$6,593,000
$4,672,000
697,000
794,000
1,490,000
1,731,000
2,874,000
4,008,000
6,882,000
(789,000)
Investment and other revenue Interest and investment income Net realized and unrealized gains on investments Gain (loss) on sale of equipment Total investment and other revenue Total revenue and other support
45,000
-
45,000
51,000
$3,616,000
$4,802,000
$8,418,000
$993,000
$25,547,000
$6,287,000
$31,834,000
$38,008,000
19,169,000
-
19,169,000
27,330,000
7,577,000
-
7,577,000
7,432,000
758,000
-
758,000
992,000
Expenses Program Administration Fundraising
Total expenses
$27,504,000
-
$27,504,000
$35,754,000
Change in net assets
$-1,967,000
$6,287,000
$4,330,000
$2,254,000
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Kirk Rasmussen
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Shannon Givens
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Wilson Cheung
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Bharat Bhushan
Thank You More humbled and less vulnerable. That is how I feel after completing my Wilderness and Medicine Rescue semester with NOLS. Participating in a NOLS course has been a long time in the making for me (seven years to be exact). When I first heard about the organization during my AmeriCorps service term, I thought to myself “wow, that would be cool,” and it became a dream of mine. Then that dream became an idea and eventually manifested into reality. I thank all of those who were able to make contributions for the scholarship I received, which greatly helped me out to make this possible. It has been almost a month since the semester ended in Lander, Wyoming. I miss waking up in a tent every morning and just having to worry about bare essentials such as food, water, and shelter. Now as I transition back into ‘normal life’ I realize that it wasn’t the harsh reality I was dealing with but rather a simpler way of living. The answers were not convoluted, and our needs were basic. It felt great to experience this with a group of people who I didn’t know for very long, but by the end it felt like I knew my expedition mates for a lifetime. I learned many skills throughout my course. From becoming a wilderness EMT, canyoneering in the Escalante-Grand Staircase of Utah, rock climbing the Red Rocks of Las Vegas, and winter ski-touring the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming, the list of technical skills goes on and on. However, the most important thing I will take away from the semester is the interpersonal skills I gained with NOLS. I now feel I am a much stronger team member and leader. I will apply what NOLS taught me to every aspect of my life. So even though my semester has come to an end does not mean what NOLS has done for me has ended. I will take everything I learned with me. I am one step closer to achieving my goal. As I type this letter, I await a phone call for an interview hoping I am accepted onto my local fire department. The Wilderness Medicine and Rescue Semester was more than just a fun experience to me, but rather something that will propel me into a lifelong career. Thank you to all who donate to such a great organization for such a great cause.
I.K. - Wilderness Medicine and Rescue Semester, 2020 34 | State of the School Report 2020
Terry Lui
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Kirk Rasmussen
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Thank You I was fortunate enough to participate in the Winter 2020 Wilderness EMT course in Weed, California. I originally signed up for this course to improve my medical knowledge and to be a stronger and more competent teammate and manager at the remote research stations where I live and work. What I wasn’t expecting was how many other skillsets I would improve and how many boundaries would be tested. I found this course to be both mentally and emotionally challenging, as well as more enlightening than I could have anticipated. The course work was challenging due to the amount of information learned in such a limited amount of time. The instructors were well trained and the information was presented in an organized, approachable and entertaining way. They also encouraged us to always improve our critical thinking and scenario skills, while making sure we understood that “perfect practice, makes perfect!” I found the discussions with instructors about the human side of medicine helped in dealing with the emotional complexity of clinical rotations. Our instructor made sure we understood our responsibility to never forget that we are treating a person, not just a symptom or illness. In reflecting on the course, even though it was difficult at times, I am grateful for the opportunity. The experience has not only improved my medical skills, but also improved myself in a much deeper sense as a human; to have greater compassion and understanding for those around me when they are in moments of need. Thank you NOLS and the generous donors to the medical training program for making this opportunity possible!
C.Q. - WEMT 2020
Nicholas Valentine
Noah Evans
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Eric Page
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Mauricio Clauzet
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Front Cover Photo: Kirk Rasmussen Back Cover Photo: Tyler Rizzuto
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