Statement of Purpose
Saylor Flett Instructor | Guide | Photographer | Mountain Lover
I am an eager prospective student in the Master’s in Recreation, Hospitality, and Parks Management degree offered collaboratively through CSUC, SFSU, and CSUS. I am excited to build a strong theoretical foundation that will complement the practical and applied experiences I have gained through teaching Outdoor Recreation Leadership (ORL) at Feather River College (FRC) in Quincy, California. By formalizing the principles, philosophies, values, and research methods around recreation inherent to the learning outcomes of this master’s program, I am confident that I will grow immensely as an educator and positively influence the lives of my students.
Learning from the natural world around us through the context of outdoor education serves as a strong bridge between my degree in Environmental Studies to my career as a passionate educator in the field of recreation. My undergraduate degree in Environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz encouraged me to critically inspect the ways in which humans affect their surrounding environments. This ultimately led to a deepened appreciation of the wildness and inherent natural beauty embodied by wilderness areas, national and state parks, areas of conservation, and other natural spaces people visit wishing to enjoy their leisure time with intention. This appreciation for, and intimacy with, the natural world weaves a common thread through the courses I instruct as faculty in the Outdoor Recreation Leadership department at Feather River College.
At UC Santa Cruz, I was central to the development of a 5-unit Community Studies course appropriately titled, “The Community and Culture of the Bicycle.” This culminating experience became my senior thesis and ultimately revealed my intense passion for education. The interpersonal and administrative skills I gained working with the university faculty, student advisors, and campus activity coordinators continue to benefit me in my occupation today. The processes related to course approval, curriculum development, and evaluating progress towards student learning outcomes provided me with a foundation to the instructional design process at the university level. The course I designed is still offered as a student directed seminar nearly a decade later. This gives UC Santa Cruz students the same opportunities I had in developing job placement and leadership skills while pursuing a college degree.
After graduation from UC Santa Cruz, Feather River College hired me as Faculty and Instructional Assistant to the Outdoor Recreation Leadership Program. Through teaching a full faculty load each semester, I continue to refine my instructional strategies through experiential education, one of the hallmarks of this program. By designing and implementing curriculum that prepares students for a career in recreation, I am able to positively affect their futures by connecting them with internships and jobs around the nation. The Feather River College faculty evaluation cycles consistently demonstrate that I serve as a student role model. The intimacy afforded by the small class sizes at our college allows many opportunities to mentor students around personal responsibility and valuable decision-making processes. These skills are incredibly important in identifying a student’s role as a contributing member of a collective team, a critical component to the expedition style outings that are a foundation of our program. As such, students graduate from our department with pertinent experiences they apply to a variety of professional and academic career paths.
As one of three faculty in the Outdoor Recreation Leadership Department, I enthusiastically wear a variety of hats related to program responsibilities. This has strengthened a number of my administrative skills related to growing a unique and vibrant program. I significantly supplement our annual restricted budget by securing additional funding sources through grant writing, fundraising events, and community donations. A recent result of these efforts materialized itself through the design and installation of a twenty-six foot by fifty-foot indoor climbing wall, open to the campus and community. Access to state-of-the-art equipment and instructional supplies purchased through these alternative funding sources allows students to graduate with a contemporary skillset that is consistent with industry standards in the field of recreation.
I am proficient in the use of complex graphic design, photo editing, and web developing computer programs. This allows me to effectively advertise the Outdoor Recreation Leadership Program to prospective students, additional funding sources, and the greater public. In 2013, I used these skills to design and launch a new ORL program website (www.outdoorrecreationleadership.org). This website, combined with enhanced social media advertising, allows the ORL program to expand outreach efforts. I further applied these skills to this application process through building a professional online portfolio highlighting my strengths and experiences. The online portfolio represented here is intended to serve as an addendum to my graduate application. These computer literacy skills will continue to serve me well in my graduate studies as I navigate the assignments and coursework associated with the online learning component of this master’s program.
As a lifelong California resident, I am well aware of the many challenges surrounding access to recreation. Cultural pressures, financial hardships, geographical isolation, and busy schedules all lead to the perception that playing outdoors is an opportunity reserved exclusively for the privileged. As the College Outings Program Coordinator for the Feather River Outings Group (FROG), I organize community events such as boating safety demo days, bike to work weeks, moonlight snowshoeing, and whitewater rafting. These mechanisms directly serve the aforementioned demographics by providing free access to equipment, transportation, and instruction. During the fall semesters I teach a class titled “College Outings and Program Leadership.” This course equips ORL students with the experiences necessary to facilitate these activities and outings. Through supervision and mentorship in the trip planning process, risk management assessment, and student evaluation cycles, students in this course develop valuable leadership skills by organizing these public events.
My devotion to professionalism and personal growth is evident by my proficiency in a wide diversity of expertise and achievements in outdoor recreation. I have climbed El Capitan several times (including a seven-day solo ascent), thrived under strenuous conditions encountered during mountaineering expeditions to Alaska, and camped deep in the middle of Class V wilderness kayak runs. I began guiding expedition whitewater trips at the age of 16. Through an impeccable safety record, outstanding customer service, and a strong commitment to facilitating positive client experiences, I methodically climbed the ladder to one of the most coveted guiding positions in the world: an oarsman in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. These professional and personal achievements demonstrate that I continually push myself to a higher standard, a mentality that permeates both my personal accomplishments as an adventurer, and my occupational endeavors as an instructor in higher education. I am certain that I will apply this same level of commitment to my academic undertakings as a graduate student in your department.
As a lifelong adventurer, an outdoor educator, and a commercial guide, I continue to learn important and lasting lessons from wild places, and interpersonal connections inherent to these experiences. I know firsthand that climbing big mountains and running difficult rapids requires an immense amount of determination, motivation, and an ability to apply critical thinking skills to solve complex problems. I am confident that I will translate these practiced skillsets to the rigorous academic workload expected of graduate students. As such, I am eager to begin my graduate school experience, oversee an applied research project, and build lasting professional relationships with professors and fellow graduate students. I look forward to broadening my practiced scope of outdoor recreation to include the theories, research methods, and critical yet creative thinking skills central to this collaborative master’s degree.
Learning from the natural world around us through the context of outdoor education serves as a strong bridge between my degree in Environmental Studies to my career as a passionate educator in the field of recreation. My undergraduate degree in Environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz encouraged me to critically inspect the ways in which humans affect their surrounding environments. This ultimately led to a deepened appreciation of the wildness and inherent natural beauty embodied by wilderness areas, national and state parks, areas of conservation, and other natural spaces people visit wishing to enjoy their leisure time with intention. This appreciation for, and intimacy with, the natural world weaves a common thread through the courses I instruct as faculty in the Outdoor Recreation Leadership department at Feather River College.
At UC Santa Cruz, I was central to the development of a 5-unit Community Studies course appropriately titled, “The Community and Culture of the Bicycle.” This culminating experience became my senior thesis and ultimately revealed my intense passion for education. The interpersonal and administrative skills I gained working with the university faculty, student advisors, and campus activity coordinators continue to benefit me in my occupation today. The processes related to course approval, curriculum development, and evaluating progress towards student learning outcomes provided me with a foundation to the instructional design process at the university level. The course I designed is still offered as a student directed seminar nearly a decade later. This gives UC Santa Cruz students the same opportunities I had in developing job placement and leadership skills while pursuing a college degree.
After graduation from UC Santa Cruz, Feather River College hired me as Faculty and Instructional Assistant to the Outdoor Recreation Leadership Program. Through teaching a full faculty load each semester, I continue to refine my instructional strategies through experiential education, one of the hallmarks of this program. By designing and implementing curriculum that prepares students for a career in recreation, I am able to positively affect their futures by connecting them with internships and jobs around the nation. The Feather River College faculty evaluation cycles consistently demonstrate that I serve as a student role model. The intimacy afforded by the small class sizes at our college allows many opportunities to mentor students around personal responsibility and valuable decision-making processes. These skills are incredibly important in identifying a student’s role as a contributing member of a collective team, a critical component to the expedition style outings that are a foundation of our program. As such, students graduate from our department with pertinent experiences they apply to a variety of professional and academic career paths.
As one of three faculty in the Outdoor Recreation Leadership Department, I enthusiastically wear a variety of hats related to program responsibilities. This has strengthened a number of my administrative skills related to growing a unique and vibrant program. I significantly supplement our annual restricted budget by securing additional funding sources through grant writing, fundraising events, and community donations. A recent result of these efforts materialized itself through the design and installation of a twenty-six foot by fifty-foot indoor climbing wall, open to the campus and community. Access to state-of-the-art equipment and instructional supplies purchased through these alternative funding sources allows students to graduate with a contemporary skillset that is consistent with industry standards in the field of recreation.
I am proficient in the use of complex graphic design, photo editing, and web developing computer programs. This allows me to effectively advertise the Outdoor Recreation Leadership Program to prospective students, additional funding sources, and the greater public. In 2013, I used these skills to design and launch a new ORL program website (www.outdoorrecreationleadership.org). This website, combined with enhanced social media advertising, allows the ORL program to expand outreach efforts. I further applied these skills to this application process through building a professional online portfolio highlighting my strengths and experiences. The online portfolio represented here is intended to serve as an addendum to my graduate application. These computer literacy skills will continue to serve me well in my graduate studies as I navigate the assignments and coursework associated with the online learning component of this master’s program.
As a lifelong California resident, I am well aware of the many challenges surrounding access to recreation. Cultural pressures, financial hardships, geographical isolation, and busy schedules all lead to the perception that playing outdoors is an opportunity reserved exclusively for the privileged. As the College Outings Program Coordinator for the Feather River Outings Group (FROG), I organize community events such as boating safety demo days, bike to work weeks, moonlight snowshoeing, and whitewater rafting. These mechanisms directly serve the aforementioned demographics by providing free access to equipment, transportation, and instruction. During the fall semesters I teach a class titled “College Outings and Program Leadership.” This course equips ORL students with the experiences necessary to facilitate these activities and outings. Through supervision and mentorship in the trip planning process, risk management assessment, and student evaluation cycles, students in this course develop valuable leadership skills by organizing these public events.
My devotion to professionalism and personal growth is evident by my proficiency in a wide diversity of expertise and achievements in outdoor recreation. I have climbed El Capitan several times (including a seven-day solo ascent), thrived under strenuous conditions encountered during mountaineering expeditions to Alaska, and camped deep in the middle of Class V wilderness kayak runs. I began guiding expedition whitewater trips at the age of 16. Through an impeccable safety record, outstanding customer service, and a strong commitment to facilitating positive client experiences, I methodically climbed the ladder to one of the most coveted guiding positions in the world: an oarsman in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. These professional and personal achievements demonstrate that I continually push myself to a higher standard, a mentality that permeates both my personal accomplishments as an adventurer, and my occupational endeavors as an instructor in higher education. I am certain that I will apply this same level of commitment to my academic undertakings as a graduate student in your department.
As a lifelong adventurer, an outdoor educator, and a commercial guide, I continue to learn important and lasting lessons from wild places, and interpersonal connections inherent to these experiences. I know firsthand that climbing big mountains and running difficult rapids requires an immense amount of determination, motivation, and an ability to apply critical thinking skills to solve complex problems. I am confident that I will translate these practiced skillsets to the rigorous academic workload expected of graduate students. As such, I am eager to begin my graduate school experience, oversee an applied research project, and build lasting professional relationships with professors and fellow graduate students. I look forward to broadening my practiced scope of outdoor recreation to include the theories, research methods, and critical yet creative thinking skills central to this collaborative master’s degree.