On March 21, countless Cornell students arrived at the Hoffman Challenge Course, wearing layers of warm clothing to combat the 30 degree weather. These students were not looking to have a fun day of climbing, instead they were prepared to have a long day of training to be an Outdoor Odyssey guide.
Outdoor Odyssey, hosted by Cornell Outdoor Education, is a pre-orientation program aimed at getting members of Cornell into the outdoors before they enter college life. Co-founder David Moriah ’72’s famous statement regarding the program — “I would found an oasis of madness in a pompous academic institution that takes itself far too seriously” — is exhibited through the lively Odyssey community that thrives on exploration and challenge. The Odyssey trips serve as a way for incoming students to get to know other students before orientation week even starts. As someone who was on a trip and is now training to be a guide, I think that Outdoor Odyssey is an experience like no other.
Arriving on campus as a new student is a scary experience in itself. When beginning Odyssey, trippers need to automatically get into their trip groups, grab any rented gear they need and leave their families; it is a big change all at once. The trippers find themselves surrounded by hundreds of faces they’ve never seen before, all standing inside of Bartels Hall (which is not the best first impression of Cornell’s campus). However, Odyssey allows the trippers to grow in a safe environment (especially in the presence of amazing guides).
Through this experience, I met my best friend Caroline Schell ’29, who agrees that Odyssey is a great chance to “meet people before the school year” as “it allows people to be their authentic selves, because, like, everyone is sweaty and gross.” On a trip, one doesn’t have to worry about their looks, being present on social media or maintaining their hygiene. Odyssey allows new students to truly get off the grid and escape, and in doing so they get to start the next chapter of their life without any additional stressors.
Depending on the trip, trippers and guides partake in many exciting activities: backpacking, canoeing, rock-climbing, cooking, making friendship bracelets and more. However, the best part of Odyssey trips has to be Camp-O-Rama, a day where every camper from every trip gets the chance to meet one another and celebrate the Odyssey experience. Just like Moriah said, it really is an “oasis of madness,” filled with around 200 trippers all meeting and comparing their experiences. It is these shared experiences that build lifelong relationships. By this point in the trip, the trippers feel confident in their ability to fit in and make new friends.
Odyssey functions beyond the nature of the trips themselves; it exists because of the people and community. From the Odyssey Coordinators who help train and run Odyssey in its entirety, to the guides who spend their spring semesters training and gaining all the tools they need to be good community leaders, to the trippers themselves, Odyssey’s community is full of support and a shared love for the outdoors.
By being a guide, you get to help create this safe environment for new students and allow them to have an easy transition into their college experience. Guides also get to experience a four to eight day long getaway before rigorous classes start up again in the fall.
It’s also important to note that no prior experience with Odyssey trips is needed to be a guide. This allows members like Amelia Lyons ’29 who “wanted more experience in the outdoors” and wanted to “broaden [her] leadership skills” but was not a tripper herself to be a guide. She also explains how it is an incredible way for guides to meet other people who are “adventurous, interesting and often genuinely love what they do.” While maintaining the upbeat, non-academic break from the structure of Cornell, being in Odyssey provides both experience in the outdoors and in leadership.
Outdoor Odyssey is an incredible program that is kept alive by all of the faculty and students who are dedicated to improving the lives of incoming students as well as fostering a kind, loving, outdoorsy environment for those who seek it. If being a guide sounds stressful, Cornell Outdoor Education in general is full of the same communities (through being a PE Program Instructor or going to the Lindseth Climbing Center), and is a wonderful place to go to put aside school work for a bit and enjoy the wonderful place that is Ithaca.
Alisia Wucetich is a freshman in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She can be reached at aew254@cornell.edu.
