You won’t find a bigger advocate for adventure-based experiential education than Carol Smith.

A longtime professor in 鶹Ƶ’s Department of Education and Wellness, Smith regularly co-leads Winter Term courses to New Zealand where she and her colleagues look to build strong, resilient students through outdoor activities.

White-water rafting? No problem, students tell her. Twelve-mile hikes up and over a mountain? Bring it. Turn off the phones? Wait … you’re kidding, right?

Grit and mental health have been a focus for Smith over the past decade in the classes she’s designed and the articles she’s co-authored for the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, among other publications. Her work complements existing scholarship that links outdoor adventure learning with physical fitness, social skills, and self-esteem.

The takeaways of two separate projects since 2016 are clear: for students, time outdoors and time spent pushing oneself to new heights strengthened a sense of control over life events. They also benefit from time offline, which is easier said than done.

“When I ask students to take 15 minutes to just sit and be without their phones, a lot of times, that causes anxiety,” Smith said. “It’s like, ‘I could be doing something!’ Well, you are. You’re taking care of your mental health.”

Smith’s work is driven by family tradition – her siblings both earned degrees in physical education, and their mother was teacher – and, in part, by the untimely deaths of relatives and friends. Like many who lose loved ones to suicide, Smith said, “I felt like I needed to do something.”

The data she’s collected, and the courses she’s designed around outdoor adventure learning, inform her recommendations for leading a life of wellness:

  • Love what you do. “When today is over, you will have exchanged a day in your life for the work you completed. You don’t get today back.”
  • Explore new interests. “You can’t rest on your laurels. People who are mentally healthy look for challenges. They look to stretch themselves.”
  • Grab some sun. “Walking is a good form of exercise. Find a trail or a road that’s not heavily traveled that gives the perception of being away from civilization. Just get outside and move.”

Smith is heartened that many students, current and former, continue to seek her guidance. “When people say, ‘when are you going to retire?’ I tell them it’s when I stop having fun,” she said. “If I feel I’m making a positive impact on students, I’ll be here.”