Experience the outdoors with Venture Out

There is a chance to experience the great outdoors, and all one has to do is wander down to Maxwell Student Union and look up an organization called Venture Out.

“Venture Out is an adventure program offered through the Department of Student Activities.? The focus is to provide [Georgia College & State University] students the opportunity to participate in activities that they may not experience on their own,” said Graduate Assistant for Venture Out Mike Pletsch. “Some of the activities include hiking, backpacking, whitewater rafting, caving, tree climbing, kayaking, skydiving and rock climbing, both indoor and outdoor. “Venture Out” offers several activities on and around campus and also goes on overnight trips to the mountains of north Georgia and Tennessee.”?

The activities on campus include an indoor climbing wall, a tree-climbing clinic and a kayak roll pool. These activities are open to all students, not to those with experience in the field.

“Most of the activities and trips are designed to offer challenges to both beginners and experts so that everyone can have a meaningful experience,” Pletsch said.

Venture Out provides students more than the chance to get away from Milledgeville for the weekend. The program creates friendships.

“Venture Out is a great opportunity for students to meet others who share the same adventurous spirit. It also provides students with a chance to form relationships and friendships with people they may not have ever met,” said Pletsch.? “Many of the activities require people to work together by setting goals and then actively trying to accomplish them.”?

Pletsch said he believes that experiencing adventures with a group off people can be a lot more fun.

“People are not going to have the same experiences goofing of with a friend as they would with a group of people,” said Pletsch.?

The program is offered through the school and receives a yearly budget. This budget helps defray the majority of the cost of many of the trips and activities. Pletsch hopes that lowering the cost of the trips will encourage more students to participate.

“Something that all college students can understand is that if you were to participate in these activities on your own, it would cost a whole lot more than what Venture Out charges,” Pletsch said.

Venture Out has a whitewater rafting trip planned for the weekend of September 10. Venture Out also has a rocking climbing trip slated for September 22. Signing up for the rocking climbing trip is simple as is participating in the activities that take place in on or around campus.

“The easiest way to get involved is to show up.? All of the activities that are on campus are free to participate in and all you have to do is be there at the right times,” Pletsch said.? “The sign-up sheets for the trips are in the Department of Student Activities office or you can e-mail ventureout@gc&su.edu for more information.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 10 2004. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry