The KSC Outing Club, which boasts one of the highest club memberships across the student organization space, is looking forward to another semester of providing outdoor experiences for Keene State students.
Junior Alec Byrne, who is currently the vice president and climbing coordinator for the club, explained what the organization’s goal is.
“We provide an outdoor experience for people, whether that’s hiking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting or we’ll even do trips to aquariums,” Byrne said. “[It’s] really just to get people engaged and excited about the outdoors, but also provide a social space for people who have similar interests and values.”
Byrne listed some of the trips that the Outing Club has planned for the upcoming semester, which includes trips to Acadia National Park, the Boston Museum of Science and the 4,000-footers in the White Mountains National Forest, 48 mountains in New Hampshire that are 4,000 feet or taller. This is in addition to local hikes and yoga activities that are more regularly scheduled throughout the semester, Byrne said.
While there is not necessarily anything planned that is different from what the club has done in previous years, Byrne said the Outing Club is looking forward to hosting more on-campus events in the future.
Byrne said he is most excited about getting to work with more people through the club this semester.
“I got experience working as a guide this summer, so being able to now work with people with this background is really exciting because I think I can provide a lot better of an experience for people,” Byrne said. “I think there’s a lot more people interested in the club this year than the engagement we got last year, so that’s pretty exciting.”
For students who might be interested in joining the club, Byrne said everyone should consider taking the opportunity to engage in a new experience.
“It’s for anybody and any skill level, so whatever your interest is, we’ll likely have something for you and if you don’t see anything, it’s an opportunity to try something new and exciting,” Byrne said. “It’s a ‘get out of your comfort zone, put yourself out there’ sort of club in a lot of ways.”
Byrne said joining the club does not require any commitments and that interested students can sign up on the club’s OwlNet page and sign up for trips as they are available or interested from there.
Justin Dearborn can be reached at
jdearborn@kscequinox.com
