Mia Lasic-Ellis

Lots of people find the Bowdoin Outing Club (BOC) intimidating. You shouldn’t let that stop you.

One of the first times I stepped into the BOC was my first day of Leadership Training (LT). It was September of my sophomore year, and I was drenched in sweat with my stick in tow having come straight from lacrosse practice. I only knew one other person in the room. During our first trip, I quickly realized that half the group were already good friends. They all seemed to have done Outward Bound or Overland (or worked for them), and they all wore Chacos and overalls. Everyone was very friendly, but I felt out of place.

Adding to that feeling was my lack of outdoor experience. The first time I slept in a tent was my orientation trip, and the first time I set one up was that afternoon, yet somehow they had let me into the same group as people who did wilderness semesters and a guy who sailed to campus. I worried about whether I’d hike too slow and hold the group back or forget the food or flip my canoe.

I had applied for LT mainly because I was having a tough time on lacrosse and wanted to branch out socially. I also did it because I had always wanted to try backpacking and canoeing but had never had the courage, commitment or gear to do them on my own. LT provided the opportunity to learn how to do all these things right at Bowdoin and for free. I figured that at worst it would be a learning experience.

For someone who doesn’t have outdoor experience, or who doesn’t have friends already in the BOC, or for many other reasons, the BOC can be very intimidating. It is hard to try something completely out of your comfort zone and even harder to immerse yourself in a group you may have little in common with. It took me a whole year to even try, but it turned out to be an incredible decision. To those that want to be more involved in the BOC but feel like they don’t belong there, I would say give it a shot.

The BOC is truly a once in a lifetime resource. It makes it so easy to go outside: Gear, food, transportation and personalized coaching are all provided for free. More importantly, its mission is centered around bringing in and introducing those without experience to the outdoors. The entire focus of LT is to teach a group of students outdoor skills so they can bring amazing outdoor experiences to anyone who wants to have them. Trips are offered throughout the year that are catered to a variety of experience levels, and every week there is programming at the Schwartz itself. It is completely up to you to decide the level of involvement that you want, but every level is made accessible to anyone.

LT ended up being one of the highlights of my time at Bowdoin. Despite my apprehension, I learned something new from every trip, and throughout the semester I got to know each person well. My favorite part of LT was the opportunity it provided to bond with and learn from people who I never would have known otherwise. To this day, some of my closest friends are those I met during LT.

Taking the leap to do LT and having such a great experience gave me the confidence to take a bigger leap and go abroad to New Zealand for my entire junior year. I went backpacking, surfing, skiing and roadtripping in so many beautiful places. It was an amazing time that was made possible by the skills I learned at the BOC. Looking back on that experience, it’s hard to imagine that I had done nothing like that only two years ago.

Go on a trip. Go to cookie time. Go talk to Mike. Just go do something at the BOC if you want to, because it exists for you to use it.

Caroline Berney is a member of the Class of 2026.