Cody Hoyt '17 and Jake Sandford '17 graduated from Elon with a minor in Adventure Based Learning and a knowledge base that far exceeded the knots they learned to tie.
After a year of travel and AmeriCorps service, Cody Hoyt ’17 moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and became a Wilderness Therapy Field Guide for Outback Therapeutic Expeditions. Spending eight days at a time with 13- to 17-year-old students bivouacking in the West Desert of Utah, he developed an ability to coach teenagers through some of life’s hardest moments using skills he learned through his Adventure-Based Learning minor. Included were lessons on facilitating group learning, the foundations of wilderness therapy, and the instincts of risk management in the wilderness. Above all, the ethos that every single moment in an opportunity for teaching paved the way for a promotion to Senior Field Guide after just seven months.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Hoyt began working as psychiatric technician at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. In what is a de facto mental health ICU, he works as a direct-care worker with 9- to 14-year-old patients using the skills he gained at Elon and had continued to develop after graduation. While he wasn’t expecting to end up in a direct health care role when he declared his minor in Adventure-Based Learning, he says, “it feels completely in line with the education I received. It does not matter if my work requires a backpack and boots, a camera and microphone, or a face shield and gloves: a mission to educate is a duty to inspire, support and empower.”
Jake Sandford ’17 backpacked through the woods for a month through National Outdoor Leadership School before he arrived at Elon to begin classes. It’s no surprise that his first job after graduating was leading backpacking outdoor adventure trips with Wilderness Adventures. He led many different trips for students ranging in age from 11 to 16 years old. He went backpacking, horse-packing, whitewater rafting, sea-kayaking, and surfing through Wyoming, Montano, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and California. Since then, Jake has served as a facilitator at Adventure Links where he taught a variety of programs around team development to a multitude of groups ranging from local schools to groups from the Wounded Warrior Project.
Sandford credits his minor in Adventure-Based Learning for preparing him with the leadership skills and aspects of group dynamics that he used on a daily basis in each of his roles. Currently, Sandford works at Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), bringing all of his amazing experiences together. It allows him to share his passion for the outdoors and outfit people who share the same passion.