Whether you like to rough it out in the wilderness or you like the indoor sport scene a little more, the Experiential Learning Center offers students, faculty, staff and the Pueblo community a wide range of activities.
Designed to give students a hands-on experience of running, managing and creating activities centered around team building, leadership and problem solving, the ELC has a lot to offer, Jenna Rossow, administrative secretary for the ELC, said.
Scott Robertshaw, director of the ELC, and Michal Hughes, associate director of the ELC, teach and guide students to run the activities they hold for the campus and the surrounding community.
“Scott Robertshaw and Michal Hughes are mentors and teachers,” Rossow said. “They teach students who are involved with the ELC for their majors, but when a lot of the programs are being run, such as ice skating and dodge ball and intramurals, they kind of just sit back and let the students run the show. They know that without this hands-on experience we will never learn, so they tend to act as mentors rather than teachers.”
Some outdoor activities that the ELC puts on for the campus and Pueblo community include ski and snowboard trips, caving trips, horseback riding, kayaking and mountain biking.
Most activities are free, but in some instances where a fee is required, such as the ski and snowboard outings, students, faculty and staff receive a discounted price if they have their IDs. Participants outside of the campus community are required to pay a little extra, Rossow said.
Some indoor activities and sports the ELC is involved with include intramurals and other special events.
The current intramural sport is basketball, which will end sometime in February. Following basketball will be dodge ball, then ultimate frisbee and finally, softball. The intramural sports will extend through the spring semester.
Other special events hosted by the ELC include dodge ball tournaments and the Battle of the Sexes event.
The Battle of the Sexes event was on Monday, Feb. 11, at the Belmont Residence Hall. It is a game in which men were asked trivia more commonly known by women, and women were asked trivia more commonly known by men. The game was held in open forum, and everyone was welcome to participate.
Other activities hosted by the ELC include the climbing wall found in the Massari arena, and the outdoor challenge course located near the baseball fields.
Beginning on Feb. 22, the ELC will be allowing students to climb on the climbing wall in the Massari arena for its grand opening. The climbing wall will be open through Feb. 29.
The challenge course is open to students free of charge only on select days. Mostly, ELC programs for the high and low ropes courses are for groups outside the university. The challenge course is intended to build leadership and team work amongst groups, and is run and facilitated by students of the university.
Students, faculty and staff are welcome to participate in any activity. The ELC requires any participant to sign up prior to participating.
If anyone is interested in finding out which event the ELC will be hosting, they are free to check the calendar posted outside the office located downstairs in the Occhiato University Center. If they want to plan more in advance, they are free to check the four-month advance calendar located inside the office.
“We try to make it a point to make everyone feel welcome, not just the people who are most involved with our programs through classes. We support all types of people, and we ask for people to bring their friends on trips as well,” Rossow said. “I believe we share a really positive environment here, and I think that anyone who has shared an experience with us would say the same.”
