Ep10 - Britan Sides - Empowering Outdoor Exploration

Appalachian Outdoorosity

On this episode of Appalachian Outdoorosity, Dr. Joy James, a professor in App State's Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education, interviews App State graduate, Britan Sides about their time at App State and more specifically the huge impact working at Outdoor Programs had on their life.

Show Notes

UREC Outdoor Programs

Outdoor Equipment Rental at App State

Handshake

Bouldering/Climbing Rating

Price Lake Blue Ridge Parkway

Rough Ridge Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway Info

https://transfer.appstate.edu/

- Transfer Admissions and Engagement supports transfer students at all stages of their education—from initial inquiry, throughout their transition to Appalachian, and during their academic and social journey. Please let us know how we can assist you!

Contact Information:

instagram username: @britanns

Transcript

Becki Battista
Welcome to Appalachian Outdoorosity where we encourage you to get outside and keep going outside. Hey, we will share Appalachian State stories that entertain, inspire and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story the goal to get you outside and keep you going outside to improve your overall wellness. This podcast is presented by the Hope Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise and play on the health, environment and human development.

Becki Battista
The vision of the Hope Lab is to continue developing the foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise and play through interdisciplinary research. Feel free to check us out at www.hopelab.appstate.edu. Hi, my name is Becki Battista. I am a professor in Exercise Science at Appalachian State University and a self-proclaimed outdoor physical activity addict. On today's episode, team member Dr. Joy James, a professor and recreation management, interviews Britan Sides where they tell us how they got into outdoor recreation and how working at Appalachian State’s UREC/Outdoor Programs, has built both their skills and community.

Joy James
We’re here today with Britan Sides, a student here at App State. Would you please introduce yourself and tell us where you're from and why you chose App State and what your major is?

Britan Sides
Yeah, of course. So my name is Britan Sides. I'm a junior anthropology major at Appalachian State University. I'm actually a transfer student. I transferred from Wingate University. I just felt like I wanted to be here. I really didn't feel like I was just in the right space. So I ended up applying to transfer to Appalachian State University and got here and absolutely love it.

Britan Sides
I love the atmosphere. I love the outdoor culture here. I'm from a really small town in the middle of North Carolina called Oakboro, North Carolina. It's pretty close to Charlotte, about 45 minutes from Charlotte. But yeah, that's a little bit about me.

Joy James
Cool. Can you tell us about your favorite outdoor activity?

Britan Sides
Yeah. So I actually just recently got into climbing, specifically bouldering. It's one of my favorite things to do. I've been going almost every day for the past two months to the climbing wall over at the University Rec Center. It's really awesome. I haven't been climbing outdoors yet, but I really want to do that. I'm just trying to get some people together to go because it definitely could be a dangerous sport to do by yourself.

Britan Sides
But there's some really great spots over at Grandmother Mountain and just around the area in general to go bouldering. It's a really good workout. It's just really fun and you meet a lot of cool people through it. And I also am really into water sports, specifically stand up paddle boarding. That's another one of my favorite things to do.

Britan Sides
It's also like a full body workout. It's very fun, especially down at the beach. And you can have dolphins. I have a dolphin swim up right by me one time, which was really awesome. So.

Joy James
Oh, I'm jealous. Give me the timeline on bouldering. Was that something since you've come to app like in the last two months, or is it something for a year you've been doing?

Britan Sides
Yeah, I've been app since the fall of 2020 and I was really scared to get it. Go to the climbing wall. I started working over Outdoor Programs in the University Rec center and I was watching people climb a lot because I got a good view of the of the wall right there. And I was like, I really want to do that, but I'm so scared and I don't have any climbing shoes.

Britan Sides
So I was like, I'm just going to wait. So I heard it's really terrible to try and climb in regular, like running shoes or tennis shoes. So this year I was like, I'm going to get into it. This is something I really want to start doing. So about September, I really started to get into it. I started going bouldering a lot. I haven’t done top roping, but that's the goal of mine.

Britan Sides
My biggest goal for this year is to do...there's different levels, so it starts at V0. It goes up pretty high into the double digits for how hard the problems are. Right now. I've been doing mostly V1s which is pretty easy. You don't really need a lot of climbing experience, but my goal is to get to a V4 by the end of the spring semester.

Joy James
Okay, so let me roll back just a bit. So what's the difference between bouldering and top roping?

Britan Sides
Yeah, so bouldering is just climbing. No ropes, no nothing. And you have a crash pad that you have below where you're climbing up. So if you fall off, you're going to land on this soft little pad and you don't have to worry about getting hurt. So that's no ropes, no harnesses, no anything. I usually don't go up pretty high.

Britan Sides
It's just a pretty good workout, pretty fun top roping is where you get into a harness and somebody belays you. So you have somebody who's pulling the rope and you're going up pretty high. You could go all the way to the top of the climbing wall, if you’d like, or wherever you're at, if you're on a mountain, wherever you're at.

Britan Sides
And it's really fun. It's really scary because you do go up pretty high and it's really hard cause it's way more climbing than you would normally do, just bouldering. So it's definitely very difficult. But because you're tied into a harness, if you need to take a break, you can kind of sit back in the harness for a minute and take a break.

Britan Sides
But yeah, I haven't tried that yet, but I'm looking forward to trying it soon.

Joy James
So you mentioned that in bouldering there is these different levels, V1 being very basic and it goes up when you said it's like kind of like solving a problem. So the problems get harder as you go up in the levels.

Britan Sides
Yes. Yeah they do.

Joy James
Thank you. So V1 is if I wanted to start bouldering, that's where I would be at and that's just as much fun, if not more if you've never done it. Yeah.

Britan Sides
Normally it starts V0, which are absolutely no climbing experience and then as you get up V1 is a little bit harder than V0s. I started doing just V0s, then moved up to V1s and now I'm trying to get...there's a specific problem at the rec center that I've been trying to get. It's the Halloween themed one, and so I've been working on that one and it's a V2.

Britan Sides
It takes a lot of work and a lot of practice to be able to build up that strength and build up that grit because it can be really painful on your hands. I definitely recommend doing research on different holds and how to do those holds because you can really hurt yourself if you're not grabbing them correctly. There's different holds.

Britan Sides
There's jugs which is just like a normal wrap your hand all the way around it. There's crimps which are basically just your fingertips and there's just a number amount of different holds. I mean, it gets more difficult as you go. But yeah, it's really fun. It's really hard. But I definitely recommend doing it and trying it out, especially being here at Appalachian State where you have kind of on campus that you can go to.

Britan Sides
They're super nice, super willing to help out and teach you those different holds and teach you how the problems work and everything like that.

Joy James
Cool. One other question with this just because, you know, sometimes it can be intimidating to go to that sort of wall. And it looks like you work there. So that kind of kind of lowered some of that intimidation factor. Is there any other advice for like, if I'm intimidated, what advice might you give me coming in to do that?

Britan Sides
Yeah, I definitely recommend going with friends. Maybe ask a friend, you know, hey, like I've been really interested in climbing, I would love to go. Want to come with me? Do you want to try it out with me? Usually having somebody you know there really helps. The first time I went, I went by myself. But like you said, I do work there.

Britan Sides
So I didn't know the workers that were there. I think having somebody that, you know, with you is really helpful. It is going to feel really weird at first because there are some people that come in and they are really good. They're doing really hard problems, but the people are so nice. They're always like, You want me to help you out?

Britan Sides
Or like, Are you struggling with this problem? You want me to like, show you how I do it, stuff like that. It's definitely intimidating at first, but going with a friend, the best times to go when the wall is empty is usually between three and five. So I recommend going between those times because people are in class, they're not really coming to climb.

Britan Sides
I usually go later at night around eight and usually there's a lot of people in there too. So if you're feeling intimidated, maybe you could just sleep and be like, Just see how many people are in the wall. Or ask one of the workers like, Hey, what's the best time to climb? Like, I'm kind of scared to come in, but usually that time between like three and five, two and five is the best time to go, because usually there's a lot of people in there because of classes and everything so.

Joy James
Good Insider tip. Thank you. Yes.

Britan Sides
Yeah, of course.

Joy James
So we'd like you to kind of tell us about yourself. So I'm going to give you four different questions I have. So the first one is how did you first get interested in the outdoors?

Britan Sides
So I've always been the kid to be outdoors. Like I always I had a really big backyard when I was a kid and we have woods back on our house. So I was always like going and wandering around in the woods and everything and but I didn't really live in an area that had like mountains or like big areas to go climb or to go hike and things like that.

Britan Sides
So I really didn't get into hiking or climbing or anything like that until I got to Appalachian State. And I didn’t even know about Outdoor Programs until I applied for the job. I was looking on a handshake and I was like, Oh my gosh, this is so cool. I would love to work here. And so I applied for the job.

Britan Sides
And through that job, I've learned so much. I've learned different techniques for backpacking. I've learned how to light a stove when you're backpacking, which I had no idea how to do, how to set up a tent. And so once I started meeting all these people and like they were sharing all their experiences because there's some people that do some really cool stuff over at outdoor programs, it's a great way to like come in and just talk to people

Britan Sides
If you're interested in getting in the outdoors. But I was like, I don't want to be like that. I want to do cool things like that. So then I started going out, climbing more and hiking more and I got into stand up paddle-boarding, which I have been wanting to try for a while, and I was living at Oak Island for the summer and my parents had rented, they got kayaks and I got a stand up paddle-board.

Britan Sides
I was like, I'm going to do this! So that's when I got into stand up paddle-boarding. There were some great places to paddle there. There are some beautiful places to paddle here. Price Lake is a great place to start out. It's usually really calm and it's absolutely beautiful, especially right now when the leaves are changing. So really when I got here is when I really just started to like get into the outdoors and learn so much through like my work and the people that I worked with and my friends about different outdoor activities.

Britan Sides
Yeah. So I was like, I got to do these cool things because this just sounds like such a fun experience.

Joy James
So cool. I'm going to talk to kernels that I want to highlight for our listeners. One, you mentioned handshake. Yes. What is handshake?

Britan Sides
Handshake is an app that you can use to look for jobs, internships, things like that. There's a specific section for jobs on campus that you can click on and look through. How to get an on campus job, especially for first year students, is really nice. So Handshake is a great way to look for a job here in Boone or on campus.

Britan Sides
You could also upload your resume so you don't have to like keep re uploading your resume and it could just be on your profile and you just click. This is what I want to send to the employer and usually they'll get in touch with you. You also get messages from people who are looking for interns or jobs to handshake, which is really nice.

Britan Sides
So it's a really great app to look for jobs and look for internships.

Joy James
And it's free because you're an App State student. It’s part of our program. So the other thing you kind of mentioned other colonel or treasure. Once you got that job and your outdoor programs, you found your community. I think that's the hardest part, particularly being a transfer student, right? You come here not as a freshman, not living in the dorms and knowing everybody.

Joy James
So I think that's one of the most challenging things, is kind of finding your people. And some I don't even know who your people are because you're still trying to figure that out. So I love the fact that you found a job that sounded appealing and you got a community, people who are kind of showing you the ropes, so to speak.

Britan Sides
Yeah, it was really awesome. I was really lucky to be able to get this job. I love it there. Every semester we're hiring because, of course, we have, you know, people graduating, people moving off to go do different things. So if anyone is interested, you check it out on Handshake.

Joy James
And you don't have to be an outdoor person. Like you could just totally. So I can work there and not have climbing skills, backpacking skills. I can be a newbie and I could still work in outdoor programs.

Britan Sides
Yes. And that goes for the island center. I specifically rent out gear to people, so I work at the front desk. The climbing wall is also a part of that. They train you on everything. You don't have to have any experience. Work at the climbing wall. They'll train you all on that. We also have trips you do have to do about a semester's worth of training to lead trips.

Britan Sides
You don't have to have any experience. You do have to fill out an application for that and then they'll teach you. We do caving, we do hiking, we do climbing. So you'll get to learn all these really cool skills and then you'll get to lead people on trips and get to meet new people and introduce new people to those outdoor activities.

Britan Sides
So there's a lot of really cool employment opportunities over outdoor programs.

Joy James
Britton Is it still the instructor development program? That's what you're talking about for the training or call it? Okay. So again, for our listeners, outdoor programs, they have this thing called instructor development in their classes that you take to get this training and you apprentice and then you go out and you start leading traps. Yeah, it is fabulous.

Joy James
Yeah. And I'll give props to Outdoor Programs. I'm a Recreation Management professor, so of course, you know, I sometimes I'm biased to my students. I would tell you that Outdoor Programstrains, their outdoor staff. I mean, they are some of the best outdoor leaders I've met, and they're all majors. And that's, you know, I hate to say that as a Rec major, because I'm like, oh my gosh, this should be recreation.

Joy James
But no, anybody could do this and be in the field and be an instructor. And I think that's what's so wonderful. They do such a great job with training.

Britan Sides
Yeah. If you look at it just I'm an anthropology major. We have some rec management majors, but we also have criminal justice majors, psychology majors. It's all over the place. So no matter what you're interested in, what you're wanting to do with your life outdoors, whether it has to do with what you want to do for your career, or just because you love the outdoors.

Britan Sides
Or maybe you just want to get into that culture. It's definitely a great place to go and to start and to get involved in a lot of different things.

Joy James
Cool. I'm going to ask a question. You kind of answered it, but I might ask you to elaborate a little bit more. What are your favorite outdoor activities? I think you mentioned Paddle-boarding bouldering and hiking. And so if there's any others that you have or if you could elaborate on why you like them so much.

Britan Sides
Yeah! So I really like climbing mostly just because it's a great workout. It's your entire body and it's just so much fun and it gives you so much accomplishment when you finish a problem and like you jump off the wall and you're like, Yeah, like I got that. I've been working on that for so long. Like, I feel so great.

Britan Sides
Also, just meeting so many cool people, like, especially if you go to a gym like the one on campus or there is Center 45, which is over where Hatchet Coffee is, that's a great place to go. They're super nice over there also just like meeting so many cool people, getting to get that workout in and then also getting to just feel that accomplishment is really awesome.

Britan Sides
And then when it comes to paddle-boarding, I love the water, especially the ocean. I never went paddle-boarding in the ocean because that scares me. That's really there's actually people who do white water stand up paddle-boarding. That's insane to watch. I definitely recommend like looking that up. They're not connected to the board at all. They're just going through these, like, massive rapids, just living their life, like having a great time.

Britan Sides
I could never do that. But it looks really fun. But just getting to see the nature and like going out on Price Lake...that's my favorite place up here to go. It's so beautiful and just getting to paddle out into the middle of the lake and just kind of sit there and just enjoy nature and just listen to the birds singing and just getting to be there is just really awesome.

Britan Sides
Taking all the beauty of this region in general because it's definitely gorgeous out here and just being able to take that in and just sit there and enjoy the moment is really awesome.

Joy James
And you have your own paddle-board or do you rent from OP?

Britan Sides
I rent from Outdoor Programs, yeah. We have the inflatable paddle-boards, which are really cool and they're really easy to be able to move around and everything, so I usually rent from them. I really would like my own. I was going to ask for one for Christmas, but I was like, I kind of want climbing shoes though. So I ended up asking for climbing shoes.

Britan Sides
But yeah, I especially since I work there, I also get to rent the gear for free. So which is another perk of working for the Outdoor Programs. So yeah.

Joy James
Well, I like that. You know, I rented an inflatable a couple of years ago for my niece to do this, and it was great. Like you said, I could get it in my car and put it on top. So it was very easy. It was easy to rent and get out. And I think I had it for 24 hours, so it wasn't like I had to bring it right back.

Joy James
All right. How do you think you became comfortable in the outdoors? Comfortable to go hiking by yourself or paddling board? Have that happened for you?

Britan Sides
Yeah, it definitely took talking to people and asking people questions. I once I started working out outdoor programs, I started asking people questions. I was like, “What do I need to know to be safe?” Because safety is extremely important. Doing any outdoor sport by yourself can be very dangerous. And our first priority when we're talking to people about whatever activities they're doing hiking, climbing, camping, paddle-boarding, we try and make sure that they understand the dangers and how to keep themselves safe.

Britan Sides
So I think it's super important to talk to people about it. Whether you come into Outdoor Programs or you have friends who are heavily involved in whatever activity you're wanting to do, I definitely recommend asking questions, doing research and getting that information so you know how to keep yourself safe. I also recommend, you know, always having friends is always really good to keep you comfortable, to keep you safe.

Britan Sides
It definitely is really hard to go out there by yourself and try a new thing and that's with anything. And I think just having a good friend to support you or to be there with you is always really awesome. So I would say those two things are key, whether whether you walk an outdoor program to like, Hey, I really want to try this, but I don't know a lot about it.

Britan Sides
We have a massive book that has anything and everything you could want to do and we can help you plan trips. We can help you learn how to pack your backpack. We can teach you how to set up a tent. There's so much information we have in that book. It's our trip planning book, so you're always welcome to come in.

Britan Sides
We love telling people about it. We love talking to people, helping people plan trips. So that's an awesome resource. And also just having friends, having somebody you're comfortable with to go out and to do something new with is always nice.

Becki Battista
When listening to Britan share their experience, we can see they overcame a common constraint to outdoor recreation: beginners embarrassment or intimidation. Research on leisure participation constraints for women, LGBTQ and people of color include not seeing people who look like you, body image, fear of attack or harassment, outdoor pest critters and animals, access to natural spaces and economic circumstances. These constraints can be overcome through determining what is holding a person back and what motivates them.

Becki Battista
App State's Outdoor Programs is set up to help students, whether beginners or experts, be able to develop their outdoor skills and gain confidence. One other way to overcome some of these constraints is to build community or become part of a supportive outdoor community where people encourage beginners, cheer on each other and continue to challenge each other in the activity.

Becki Battista
Today's episode is brought to you by the Hope Lab. One of the goals of the Hope Lab is to find ways to get people outside. Working for an outdoor organization is one way to gain skills and connect with others who are interested in the activity. Visit www.appstate.hopelab.edu to learn more about the benefits of being outside.

Becki Battista
Let's listen to the rest of the interview where Britan shares how they built community and what motivates them to continue their outdoor recreation pursuits.

Joy James
So is there any one person that's been a major influencer there for you in terms of helping guide you?

Britan Sides
Yeah, my supervisor last year, their name is Mack. I talk to them a lot about getting into the outdoors, doing some new things and they're really awesome. They still work there now. Every year we have a different supervisor. Our supervisor now is really awesome to, CeCe. She's also been a great help just talking to her. She also works on the climbing wall.

Britan Sides
So I'm like, you know, “What problems should I do? How do I do this or how do I do that?” So a lot of my supervisors have been really great. And also my boss, Val and the GA Dusty over at outdoor programs, they're both super amazing. So nice. I was actually talking to Val the other day, I was planning on going backpacking and she was like, “Yeah, let me just tell you some good places to go.”

Britan Sides
It was going to be my first time backpacking, so she was like, “Here's some good, like starting places to go. Here's like some things you might need to know.” which is really awesome. And then Dusty is so great. He's such a he's such a great guy. He's been such a great person to have in my life and learning about the outdoors and just being able to talk to him about his experiences with the outdoors.

Britan Sides
And he also helps do the resetting of the climbing wall. So I can always get a little inside bits of like what problems to do and what new routes they've set and things like that.

Joy James
So it sounds like a just a wonderful community of people.

Britan Sides
Yes. Yeah, it's amazing.

Joy James
Yeah, you should be there. Poster child for it.

Britan Sides
I actually was at the beginning of the semester, CeCe my supervisor was like, “Do you want to like, come talk to the freshman at, like club events and stuff?” And I was like, “Yeah, I'd love to.” So that is exciting.

Joy James
Yeah. Not only do they build you, you know, they train you in your position, but they kind of cross train and are willing to give you advice and then give you opportunities over there as well.

Britan Sides
Yes, for sure. There's, there's so many things to learn just for yourself when it comes to just building skills to have a career, just building those basic like connections and just how to have good work ethic is really awesome. And just getting to have a good group of people that you feel comfortable around and you can just learn so many new things from is really awesome.

Joy James
Cool. All right. This is the last question for the kind of the interview part. Basically, tell us a story about an outdoor experience that has influenced you. It could be a funny story. It could be a surprise or it could be a lesson learned. Is there do you have any story like that from your experiences in the outdoors?

Britan Sides
I'll talk about my first time going stand up paddle-boarding because that was a really cool experience. When I first got onto the water, I didn't start standing up. I started on my knees. I was like, I'm going to take it slow. Yeah. So I definitely recommend if you're going paddle-boarding and that's your first time, you can go ahead and start out standing up if you feel comfortable.

Britan Sides
But starting on your knees is also okay too. That's what I did. And I just remember, like, feeling so good. I was I paddled out. There was this big open area where like people could sit on the beach and it was a pretty big area. And then there was like a island on the other end, a little small island you could go kind of walk around on. And then on the other side of the island there were little channels of water and there was long grass. And it was just a beautiful place to paddle-board. And I remember I had just gotten out and I was in the middle of the water and I see this dolphin and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I please, please, like, come up again.

Britan Sides
And it comes up again and it's probably like if I bent over, I probably could reach it. So yeah, I was just standing there and I was like crying. So, so excited. So I'm like sitting on my paddle-board and my parents were behind me. They were kayaking and they were like, What is it like, Why did you stop? And I was like, Wow, there's a dolphin.

Britan Sides
Like, That's so cool. It came out right next to me. And that was just such a cool experience. And so I paddled on my knees for a little bit and I was like, okay, I'm I'm ready to stand up. We had stopped on this island just to look around, check it out, see if we can find anything cool.

Britan Sides
And so we're heading back in the water and I'm like, I'm going to stand up now. And I got about to the middle and I fell off the paddle board. And at first I was like, Oh my gosh, this is so embarrassing. But once I got back on the board, I was like, You know what? Nobody was watching me.

Britan Sides
Everybody is going to fall off. At some point. You're going to fall off so many times. That's totally okay. Paddle boarding is hard. You're not going to be able to stand on it perfectly and paddle for like an hour or two without falling off. You're going to fall. And that's okay. Like, that's a part of the learning process.

Britan Sides
And I think that's something I had to learn because I'm so scared of falling off. I was like “I have to be perfect. I have to I have to stay on it the whole time or else I'm not doing good.” But, you know, when you fall off, it's like refreshing because you're sweating from paddling. So you get that, like refreshing, cool water and it's like, okay, I'm re-energized, I'm going to get back up, I'm going to try again.

Britan Sides
And that's really important. Just accepting the fact that you're not going to be perfect.

Joy James
Your even like the first however many times it takes a while.

Britan Sides

Joy James
And I still do stupid stuff. And it's funny how those emotions kind of come up and you're embarrassed and I look around and did anybody see it and I love what you're advising us is everybody follows, everybody fails, get up, do it and look at the positive and keep practicing. Because if I was afraid I was going to soar, I'd never do anything.

Joy James
Yeah, and I'm so glad that you were able to get yourself to stand up. And, you know, embarrassment is a is an emotion. And hopefully it's not an emotion that deters us from ever trying it again. And I think you also suggested your community that you are around without the programs. It's you're a beginner and it's hard. It can be embarrassing and yet they're very nice to you and they're like, How can we help you?

Joy James
They're so excited. So I think that's the other cool thing is surrounding yourself with people who support that and understand it's awkward and you've got to be brave and then they're kind to you.

Britan Sides
Yeah, yeah. And I like I like to think, especially when I'm climbing, I'm like, I'll see some people doing really hard problems. And I'm like, Well, they've been where I was. Like, they, they had to get past the level that I’m at in order to get where they're at now. So I think that's a good way to think about it.

Britan Sides
Whenever you see someone that's like really doing some cool stuff and you're like, I really wish I could do that. Like they seem so cool. Like, I wonder what they're thinking about me over here doing, like V ones and they're doing like the sevens and it's like, Wow, these people are really cool. And this kind of think like, you know what?

Britan Sides
I can be there one day because because they were at the place that I'm at right now and they had to surpass that to get to where they are. And so like that really motivates me, just seeing people do these really cool things and being like, Oh, I'll be there one day. And that's that's the kind of level I want to be at one day.

Joy James
That's so awesome, Britan. So awesome. Yeah, well, that kind of wraps up the interview portion. We have a segment we call it Getting the Dirt on Getting Outside. What is your biggest fear about the outdoors?

Britan Sides
My biggest fear...I watch a lot of true crime and so going out, I'm like, Oh my gosh, Like I'm out here by myself. Like, it can be really terrifying to just be out there by yourself and know that, like, there's wild animals, there's other people around. You're kind of in the middle of nowhere. So that's always really scary, especially for people who identify as woman.

Britan Sides
Like that's that's terrifying going out there by yourself. And it's definitely something that I wish we didn't have to worry about or fear about or anything like that. But that comes back to doing that research and knowing how to be safe out there so you can be prepared for things like that.

Joy James
I would also add just from my own experiences, because I was like you, I didn't want to go well, I would say I was like you, but I when I first started, I wasn't. I was more likely to do things with friends. It was hard to go do it by myself because I didn't know or I was afraid. And what I can say, as years has gone by now, I go by myself.

Joy James
Because as you get more competent, comfortable, you know, like you said, how to be safe. And sure, it's always better with friends, but it's really empowering when you can solo something yourself, you know, just say, Oh, nobody's wanted to do it with me, so I'm going to go do it. That is a fear that I think all of us are kind of like, Oh, wild animals.

Joy James
I'm not sure about. All right. What is your most embarrassing outdoor moment so far?

Britan Sides
My most embarrassing. I would say so...I went hiking one day over at Rough Ridge, and my roommate was out of town and I was dog sitting. She has a pitbull mix. His name is Dexter. And so we're going up and we're good. Like we're chill and we're having a great time. And it had actually rained earlier that day.

Britan Sides
And if you've been to Rough Ridge, you know, it's really rocky. It can be really slick. And so we did so top we sat down for a little bit. I give him his water and I'm like, okay, let's head back down. And this dog is probably about the size of me. And so we're going down and he's just wanting to run.

Britan Sides
He's like, I want to run down this whole path. I want to go, I'd probably fell like five or six times. I was trying so hard to like, get him to just stop and calm down and it was just not working. And there were people like trying to walk and like, I'm over here slipping around everywhere. It was really fun.

Britan Sides
It was fun going out with him, but it was so embarrassing, just like being have mud all over me, like him just pulling me down and me not being able to control him because he's like my size. So it was really embarrassing, but it was really fun.

Joy James
Isn’t that funny how you can be embarrassed and have fun at the same time. So, what is it? Must have a piece of outdoor gear equipment, Something you would never leave home without or something you can't live without In the outdoors.

Britan Sides
I would say water bottle. I can't go anywhere without my water bottle. In general, there's so many things, but water. You can't you can't go without water. Whether you're just going out for the day, whether you're just going for a few hours or whether you're going overnight, like make sure you have a big water bottle and make sure you know where to fill that water bottle up and make sure you know how to get clean water, because that's just super important when you're doing extensive exercising like that to make sure that you're staying hydrated and you're drinking good clean water.

Joy James
All right. What is your favorite local spot?

Britan Sides
I really like Rough Ridge. I go there all the time. It's so beautiful. Once you get to the top, it's only a mile high, but it's a pretty good workout.

Joy James
It feels like boulder sometimes. It's like you have not really hike up or do some serious lunging to be able to get over them.

Britan Sides
Yeah, there's some big rocks and like, it's a really good workout, even though it's only a mile. But once you get to the top, it's so beautiful and it's just such an awarding experience. Once you get to the top, it's like I just. I just get to witness this beauty. Now I get to sit here and going down is always way easier than going up.

Britan Sides
Unless you have a pit bull with you that's pulling you down.

Joy James
Some students were talking to me that they they've seen a lot more people at Rough Ridge. And so they started doing sunrises.

Britan Sides
Yes, that's think.

Joy James
That's a good idea. I had thought about that.

Britan Sides
Yeah. And it's beautiful. I've never been at sunrise but I know that just imagining I'm sure it's absolutely beautiful once you get to the top and like you're seeing the sunrise over the mountains and it's just absolutely gorgeous.

Joy James
I think the hard part is getting up, right? Like I don’t wanna get up that early.

Britan Sides
Yes, definitely.

Joy James
All right. Well, Britan, we so appreciate your time and enthusiasm and kind of your story through Outdoor Programs. I think that really showcases how in student affairs can really be impactful to a student's life and help you find your community and a hobby that's going to be a lifelong pursuit. So I'm thrilled that you were able to join us today.

Joy James
Thank you.

Britan Sides
Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun, so.

Joy James
I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Becki Battista
As we wrap up the interview, we want to share some resources for you. Check out this episode's notes page for resources on App State’s Outdoor Programs, hiking trails and other topics from our conversation with Britan. We want to thank Britan for their insights and stories. Appalachian Outdoorosity was created by Melissa Weddell, Becki Battista and Joy James. We also want to thank our podcast producer Dave Blanks from AppState University Communications.

Becki Battista
We leave you with the following quote by Amy Poehler: “If you can dance and be free and not embarrassed, you can rule the world.”