Download - University of the Ozarks

ous early-morning
concert of hymns.
Echoing off the
towering limestone
bluffs, the
sounds could be
heard for miles
up and down the
river.
“To hear the
singing in a venue
like that was a
pretty incredible
experience,” said
Lakaen Maddox, a
sophomore education
major from Clarksville. “That’s probably one of the last
things you expect to hear on a float trip, and it made the trip
even more memorable.”
Before attending Ozarks, Kursty Boyd, a junior accounting
and economics major from Coal Hill, Ark., had never been
canoeing on the Buffalo River despite having spent her entire
life just two hours away. Her first experience in a canoe was
three years ago in her freshman CI class.
“There were three of us in a canoe, and we had no idea
what we were doing,” she recalled. “There were 30 canoes and
we were the 29th to finish. We were so late that we missed
lunch, but we had a great time. I felt a real sense of accomplishment.”
Boyd now takes the canoe trip with CI classes as a peer
mentor, an older student who helps the freshmen acclimate to
college life at Ozarks.
“It’s neat to see the experience from the other point of
view and watch the freshmen learn how to steer the canoe and
get through the rapids,” she said. “You see how they work together
and how they overcome their fears.”
Overcoming fear is one of the main components of the
trip, according to Stacy Key, an instructor of mathematics who
also coordinates the CI program at Ozarks.
“Usually the trip to the Buffalo River is an experience that
students either love or just tolerate,” he said. “Most students
view it as a challenge and enjoy the outdoors and the sights that
they see. We have had some students that had a fear of water
or others that had not spent any time in the outdoors. Many
of these students have raved about their experiences of the day
and have made strides to overcome their fears and grow from
this trip.”
Another component of the trip is community service. The
students take along trash bags and pick up trash along their
journey. Over the past several years, the Ozarks contingent has
collected several dozen bags of trash from along the banks of
the river.
“We really want to emphasize the idea of conservation
and preservation
of our natural resources,”
said
Key. “It also allows
us to discuss
community service
and all of us
doing our small
part, and that’s
where the picking
up of trash comes
in. Fortunately,
the Buffalo River
does not have
many issues in
this area, which
makes even a single piece of trash even more noticeable.”
And, for at least a few hours, the students know what it
feels like to be completely unplugged – no televisions, no
computers, no cell phones.
“It’s awesome not having to check your phone every few
minutes and to just relax and enjoy nature,” said Boyd. “Arkansas
is a beautiful state, and I think it’s easy to forget that
sometimes.”
Dr. Buddy Smith, a professor of mathematics at Ozarks
since 1980, first started taking his CI students on the Buffalo
River nine years ago. He said it’s a trip many of them never
forget.
“I’ve had students tell me that they remember the trip and
good times they had years later,” Smith said. “One student even
remembered going on the canoe trip with me four years later,
but he could not remember that I was his algebra teacher.”
In his years of taking more than 250 students — most of
them first-time canoeists — on the Buffalo River, Smith has
developed some interesting theories.
“I think students learn a little about problem-solving since
they have to paddle a canoe down some rapids and not turn
over,” he said. “It seems like girls adapt to a canoe faster than
the guys, and I’m not sure why that is. Maybe they are lighter
or just more careful.”
The CI program at Ozarks has been in place for almost a
decade, and it has helped the university attain retention rates
above the national average for higher education. University
officials believe the program, which emphasizes such experiences
as the float trip, gets students more engaged with their
classmates and the university.
“The canoe trip to the Buffalo River serves several purposes
for a student in the Critical Inquiry course,” said Key.
“In addition to the outdoor experience, we want the students in
CI to bond with the other students in their class, get engaged
with the Ozarks community, and learn teamwork and cooperation.
These are some areas that students encounter on the trip
to the Buffalo River.”
Today, FALL/WINTER 2009 11