Getting Outdoors

Larissa Copley ’21 works for ETSU’s Outdoor Adventure Program, which is responsible for running the Indoor Climbing Wall, the Basler Team Challenge and Aerial Adventure Course, Program Trips, and the Buc Bikes Program . Since starting with Outdoor Adventure, Larissa has earned several certifications - including CPR, First Aid, and AED certified by the American Red Cross; Level 1 Certification by the ACCT (Association for Challenge Course Technology) to run the ETSU Challenge Course; WFA (Wilderness First Aid) certified based on standards of the National Outdoor Leadership School; and a PCIA (Professional Climbing Instructors Association)-Climbing Wall Instructor Certification for teaching climbing in an indoor or other artificial rock-climbing setting. She also serves on the Campus Sustainability Fee Committee and helps allocate Green Fee money designated to making ETSU's campus more sustainable. During summer 2019 she worked for Boy Scouts of America at Camp Buck Toms teaching mountain biking and rock climbing to scouts . In fall 2019, she will join the ETSU EcoNuts and work with the Department of Sustainability . “I think my interest in being outside comes from the confidence I found the first time I was really thrown into the outdoors on the Roan Outdoor Leadership Challenge,” Larissa said . “Since coming to college, I have also developed a greater appreciation for the environment . Going outside gives me the opportunity to appreciate the planet’s natural beauty and challenge myself all at once . What more could I ask for?”

THRU-HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL

After traveling and studying abroad in India and Europe as an undergraduate, Roan Alumnus Brad Fisher ’16 yearned to live a full life outside of daily routines. While three years in New York City after graduation taught him a great deal and were professionally rewarding, they also reinforced his desire for a full, active lifestyle . This inspired him to hike all 2,184 miles of the Appalachian Trail in summer 2019 . "Knowing that my time is downright limited, never stopping, and always running out creates an urgency to accomplish life goals and express love now, not later," Brad said . "In my mind, time is our most valuable and most scarce commodity, and how we choose to use it ultimately defines how we feel about our lives. ... This leads me to the Appalachian Trail, the first major instance in which I'll begin to live out the life approach of using my career as a means to justify travel and adventure, break up the routine, and make the most of my time . " He began his trek April 12 in Georgia, bound for the trail's end in Maine . On his way, Brad stopped at Carver's Gap on Roan Mountain, where Roan staff and Roan Alumnus Michael Stallard ’15 met him with trail snacks . He also passed by his hometown of Gaitlinburg during the hike, where his passion for the outdoors grew, in part, from backpacking adventures with his father in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.