Program Reviews

I was a student in 2003 Fall Semester in the Southwest and still to this day 12 years later it comes up in my mind, my stories, and my experiences daily. I was challenged on a level that was so different than anything I had ever experienced. Many of the things I could have never had accomplished without the support of not only my instructors, but my course mates as well who I still consider great friends. NOLS takes adversity and diversity to a whole new positive level.
I have so many memories that stick out in my mind but one I think of so often was sitting on the river bank of the Rio Grande after canoeing over 150 miles and watching a pack of wild horses cross the river. I still get chills today when I think of it. I would never call my NOLS experience easy or comfortable but I would call it unforgettable, and life changing. I would recommend the semester course to anyone with any experience level. I so hope to take another course soon.

I completed this semester program while taking time off from college. There are few memories I have from my college years that compare with hiking the Olympic coast under moonlight to work with the tides, or arriving at the summit of Mt. Baker after convincing myself there was no way I would make it, or the feeling of pride and accomplishment after I completed my first lead climb. This semester deepened my connection with nature, and forged my lifelong committment to helping others develop that connection, it gave me the confidence to later apply for (and complete) a NOLS instructor course. Personally, I don't think I could have gained the confidence that comes with serious intentional introspection, feedback, and leadership curriculum that is unique to a NOLS course. The diversity of skills offered on this particular semester (climbing, sailing, mountaineering, backpacking...) is what drew me to this course, and I will forever have a very special place in my heart for the Pacific Northwest because of it

There are not really many "study Abroad" prgrams where you get to experaince the country in it's rawest form . Be aware this is no beach vacation. If you are willing to have physically demanding days to see and experaince some of the coolest cultures of your life, this program is for you.

A typical day (as I remember it)
- Wake up early, 6-7am, cook/ clean-up breakfast
- Pack-up camp
- morning lesson on either culture/ language or outdoor education
- Hike for 5-6 hours (see amazing wildlife, interact with local tribes, connect with your fellow NOLSies
- set-up camp in your new location
- maybe have an hour or 2 of down time
- Cook dinner/ clean-up
- relax with your companions
- go to sleep in your tent with your tent group

The NOLS Australia branch fulfilled all of my aspects as a student. Being a new student to the outdoors, I was taught all of the skills that were necessary to traveling in the backcountry. The Instructor team worked very well as a group to provide us with canoeing and backpacking lessons which eventually lead us into those sections. The leadership curriculum taught us how to travel as a team and most importantly how to handle situations that we were unfamiliar with. My experience on this course has helped me get to where I am today and it allows me to reach upcoming personal goals.

My NOLS experience was just what I needed at the time. I had just transferred colleges and needed to make up some lost credits. NOLS offered me those credits and I was able to fit in a semester during the summer break.

My course consisted of Backpacking (85 miles over the span of a month) Rock Climbing (Vedauwoo, Devil's Tower, and the Needles) and Whitewater Rafting and Kayaking (on the Green River).

I went into my semester with an open mind. I had dabbled in each of the sections prior to my course, but never before immersed myself so fully in a skill. I left each section with a confidence in the hard skills as well as a better understanding of how I function in a group setting.

There were 15 students on my semester from all over the country between the ages of 17 and 21. We learned how to work as a team over those three months and 10 years later I'm still in contact with a few of them.

I enjoyed learning from the instructors as they taught various classes in the middle of a field, in the middle of a mountain range, far from any typical classroom setting.

As a gap year semester student, NOLS gave me the space to go deeper into myself and figure out what was truly important to me. Away from frontcountry pressures of school, work, family and friends, I was able to learn who I was and what I was capable of—and it was far greater than I had ever imagined. This confidence carried me through college and into my career.

Baja is an incredible classroom. The dessert travel is challenging for very different reasons than the mountains I grew up in, and the Sea of Cortez is a beautiful and magical place to explore by drascombe sailboat or sea kayak. Top that with cultural interactions with rancheros and pongeros (fisherman), and this easily sits as one of the most memorable and formative experiences of my life.

A semester in the Yukon is an amazing experience. I did courses in backpacking and whitewater canoeing. The landscape and terrain were breathtaking both in the mountains and along the river. We encountered bears, moose, caribou, and wolverines. However, the leadership and communication skills learned were definitely the best part. I still apply what I learned in the Yukon everyday and the lessons and skills learned have remained with me. The instructors in the field and staff at the branch were wonderful and helped make the experience flow seamlessly. Thy supported us throughout the whole expedition. I would highly recommended a course in the Yukon.

The year in Patagonia, which is an academic year so 6 months, will expose you to all of the fundamental outdoor activities, backpacking, mountain climbing, water travel, rock climbing and you get a cultural immersion experience. Patagonia is a truly wild place with few roads and fewer people, far from an original wilderness this landscape offers amazing chances to be in genuine backcountry situations. There are hard situations in the wilds of this place, blizzards on mountain passes that you may be camping on, or high seas on open stretches of the fjords. There are precious moments of immersion into simpler lives, and unbelievable views of islands in the ocean with whales and dolphins all while watching glaciers on not so distant mountains decaying in the heat of summer.

Every day was amazing but my favorite moments were at the end of a long day everyone sat together and cooked dinner while we talked and laughed away the hours. The instructors were always helpful in a comically unhelpful way responding "what do you think" whenever we posed a question to them. It really made us think things through and made things both funny and frustrating.

Nothing gets under my skin more than people referring to NOLS as a "life changing" experience. It's not. Please don't place that much pressure on three months of your life. Please be a more stable person that a course doesn't completely change who you are. However, I do think it's fair to say that NOLS gave me a new perspective. While I was going through it, I didn't feel like I was changing or getting a mind-blowing perspective. Years later now, I'm happy I did it because I learned a lot about group dynamics and I learned that I could do such a physically and emotionally challenging thing. It makes problems at work pale in comparison.
I also learned leadership skills because I had both good an terrible instructors. I still want to be more like the good instructors and I still kind-of want to punch the bad instructors.