CORE program accepting applications

Adventurous students who have considered careers in outdoor leadership and instruction might want to spend their spring semester participating in the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation/Education program. Applications for CORE can be turned in as early as this week, but no later than Oct. 22. \nCORE is a semester long intensive outdoor program open to undergraduate students for 17 credits and graduate students for 12. Only 18 students will be accepted this year. Any student can apply, but priority is given to juniors and seniors majoring in outdoor recreation and resource management. \n"I think CORE is a really neat opportunity and is something unique to IU," said Jill Overholt, the program's coordinator and a former CORE participant. "There are few other programs like it in the country. It offers students a chance to get out of the classroom and learn job related skills hands on."\nStudents accepted into the program attend an orientation in November where they receive equipment lists, calendars of planned events and tips on how to get in shape. Their semester is split between classes and field experience. Students spend the first two months preparing for a three week final expedition by attending classes at the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center and going on five small weekend trips to places like Bradford Woods, Hoosier National Forest and local caves. At the end of the semester they spend 20 days beginning in the Henry Mountains in Boulder, Colorado and ending in the Dirty Devil Canyon in Utah. \n"The beauty of the area is we can park our vehicle, then hike up into the mountains, summit Mount Ellen, then hike down into the desert and into the canyons without ever having to get into a vehicle," Overholt said.\nJoel Meier, a professor and Chair of the Department of Recreation and Park Administration at IU, first started CORE at the University of Montana. In 1994 he brought the CORE concept to IU.\n"I knew how this kind of program could change people in a positive direction, enhance students' leadership skills and blend academic classroom learning and the experiential approach," Meier said. \nThe program has since been under the leadership of Alan Ewert, a professor in the department of recreation and park administration, who has provided students with more learning opportunities. \nThanks to Ewert, students now have more opportunities to develop their technical outdoor skills while also working to achieve various designations including SOLO wilderness First Responder certification, Search and Rescue Training and Wilderness Education Association Outdoor Leader Certification. \nSenior Kristin Pothier participated in CORE last semester and said that although she will now be graduating a semester behind, her experience was worth it. Pothier said she knows she may not be able to use the technical skills she learned in her future job, like how to rock climb and mountaineer, but through CORE she said she learned about herself and a variety of leadership styles that will enable her to help the people she plans to work with someday.\n"CORE is not a program you can just halfway commit yourself to," Pothier said. "CORE will be your life that whole semester. However, it is a rewarding experience and is well worth all of your time and energy."\n-- Contact staff writer Lindsay Lyon at lrlyon@indiana.edu.