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Outdoor Semester:
PSY 101 is one of five courses in the Outdoor Semester, a study away
experience. Students take courses in Outdoor Recreation, English and
Geography as well as Psychology. They go on two two-week treks in the outdoors:
one north to Montana and other northern states, one south to New Mexico and
surrounding states. During the two week excursions we apply what you learned
back in the classroom.
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| We saw many beautiful natural scenes on the trip. In
2006, that included a double rainbow! Students learn about the
importance of having a relationship with nature in the Outdoor
Recreation course, which is a part of Outdoor Semester along with PSY
101. |
Another beautiful scene in Montana, this taken during
the Outdoor excursion of 2007. The PSY 101 class for Outdoor Semester
explored the topic of stress. One great way to cope is to spend time
appreciating nature. |
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| Outdoor Semester is about being well-rounded. We learn
in the classroom, and have to go DO things on the trips. Like canoe. Its
a great skill to have! |
Another physical skill we learned was how to climb
rocks, using ropes. (OK, so its not that high, but it was high enough
for some of us!) |
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| Part of the assignment in Outdoor Semester was to
journal on a consistent basis while traveling. That way we gave
ourselves time to reflect, and consider how to apply what we were learning in the
classroom to the outdoor adventure. |
Another place we read about in class. Hole in the Wall.
What a place to journal at! For some of us it was a big step to climb so
high, for it was a long way if we fell! (No one did!) But we used procedures we learned
about in PSY 101 to help us overcome our fear. |
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| Here we are, camping on the Missouri River in Montana.
We followed the path Lewis & Clark took over 200 years ago, reliving
what we had read about Native American and US history in our classes. |
The 2006 Outdoor Semester group at Decision point, a key
fork in the river. Lewis & Clark thought hard about which fork to take.
If they had made the wrong decision, they might have perished! |
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