Outward Bound: MTV Real World Home

Q: Which student affected by Hurricane Katrina did you connect with most and why?

Jenn: When working with the students affected by Hurricane Katrina I felt a number of connections with each of them.  They are all so very unique and so very special in their own way.  On the boys course I really connected with DJ on a real cool level.  DJ is a really cool kid and has so much positive energy and life to his personality. I can honestly say he always kept me laughing and smiling even when he wasn't trying.  At times I could see a bit of myself in DJ. especially times when he wouldn't want to do anymore hiking or felt he couldn't do something so he would put down the activity in a negative way I went through the same emotions and I loved being there to motivate and push him through so that he would finish with a smile.  He's a great guy and is going to grow up to be an amazing young man.

Brooke: I think that I connected the most with Ashley.  The day that Stephen and I were leading the Girl Group, we had to climb up a mountain that was rather tedious in the fact that it was very steep.  One of our girls, Ashley, was having a hard time in catching her breath and once we got to a place to rest for a bit, she was unable to breathe and gasping for air.  We didn't know what to do, or what was wrong.  Chris, Stephen and I all tried to help her, but eventually Chris decided she needed to be rushed to the hospital.  We didn't know how she was or what had happened until thankfully, she returned the next day and told us she was fine.  But I knew she had to have been shaken up over the whole ordeal.  I guess I related to her the most from her experience because of her ability to stick with it and be so brave.  She could have just gone home, but instead, there she was, ready to jump right back in! 

Davis: I connected most with a girl named Margo because she was having the toughest time with her experience, and I saw this as a challenge to try and make things better for her. I tried my hardest to help her out during a strenuous peak climb and turn her spirits around as she was very down about the whole ordeal, and as she improved her attitude and her stride, I felt successful in my duties as a wilderness instructor, and connected with her on a deeper level than the other students. 

Q: What moment with Outward Bound was most memorable?

Jenn: Working with Outward Bound there are so many moments that are memorable and the entire experience is completely unforgettable.  For me the moment that most often comes to mind when thinking back at our experiences would have to be when Colie, Alex and I climbed and reached our very first mountain peak together.  The feeling of accomplishment, gratitude and overwhelming emotion is irreplaceable.  The three of us will have that moment to remember forever and we'll always know the feeling.

Brooke: By far the most memorable moment for me was when I finally did the rappel!  The rappel was down a 100 ft. mountain, and I am terrified of heights!  I was not able to do it the first time, so the second time I felt like I had a lot to prove.  I was convinced I was not going to do it, but once I saw that everyone else was, and that people were really expecting me to do it this time, I realized that I had to do it!  I tried to make myself go over the edge about 4 times before I actually did it.  When I did, I just remember this overwhelming feeling of courage, excitement and confidence that I had never felt before.  It was a defining moment of strength for me.

Davis: My most memorable moment with Outward Bound was one day when I was surveying a course for a peak climb with our guide Lori, and when we nearly reached the peak of the summit, a huge storm came in across the skyline at the peaks of other mountains. The view was sooo magnificent and we all rushed down the mountain to get to a lower elevation as to avoid lightening. The lightening began to pick up and struck several trees. We reached the tree line and found a gigantic tree that had split in half down the trunk due to the lightning storm. The view of the peaks of the mountains with the huge thunderstorm coming our way is still a vivid memory I have of my time in the Rockies.

Q: What was your proudest moment as interns for Outward Bound?

Jenn: Completing our first course of training would have to be my greatest moment as an intern.  Going into Outward Bound I was doubtful of the idea of being able to not only complete the tasks given but to deliver and teach them to seven other people successfully.  After our first week of introduction and training I felt like I was going to be able to do so much more and was excited and ready to not only learn and do more but to share my experience and help make another persons experience as exciting as mine.

Brooke: My proudest moment was the rappel.  I had all these faces looking at me and waiting to see if I could make myself go over the edge finally and rappel down the mountain.  I knew many of them didn't believe I would do it, and many of them believed I would and I could.  Once I went over the edge and forced myself to just go for it, I just remember being so proud of myself and appreciative of everyone for being so supportive and staying so encouraging.  I was amazing.

Davis: My proudest moment as an intern for Outward Bound was when i completed my first Outward Bound course leading seven teenage boys who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina on a week of rock climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, and summiting a mountain. On the final evening, we had a pin ceremony and the young boys spoke on how much this week had impacted their lives and how terrible life at home was due to the destruction from the hurricane. It was then that I realized how much an Outward Bound course can impact someone's life, and how much of a positive influence I was having on someone else due to my volunteering of my time.

Q: Is there anything else you want to share with us?

Jenn: I would like to just say Thank you to everyone at Outward Bound for agreeing to be a part of something that you guys have never done...Reality TV!  I'm sure it was just as fearful for you as it was for us coming into Outward Bound. 
I especially do not want to forget to give a tremendous thanks to both Raleigh and Lori for the everlasting faith and confidence you had in all of us!  The combination of Chris and those two women made our experience the best!  Raleigh thanks for being so sweet and so welcoming you made the first few weeks great! Lori thanks for always keeping us on our toes and having fun, you made those courses a blast ! Adam, thanks for the ray of sunshine your smile brought all those days you were with us....you're the reason I like Tofu...ha ha  To the rest of Outward Bound thank you all for taking a chance on seven crazy strangers and a ton more crazy people in production. I loved every minute of it!  

Brooke: I plan on continuing my experience with Outward Bound for the rest of my life.  I feel it is necessary in order to sort of "regroup" from everyday life's stressors.  I hope that once I start to slip back to my old ways of taking my blessings for granted, I will recognize that it's time to go back to Outward Bound!

Q: Do you look at life any differently now that you have had an experience with Outward Bound? If so, how?  

Jenn: I think that I look at life the same way I did before my experience with Outward Bound just with a little more patience and a lot less doubt.  I guess I would say that after climbing mountains, rapelling down the side of a rock, living in the woods and actually enjoying it, I feel as if I have done the "undoable".  What in everyday life could be harder than that?  So I guess I do look at life a bit differently now, I look at it with ease and a big smile!

Brooke: Yes, like I said above, I do not take my blessings for granted anymore.  Before, it took so much for me to feel fulfilled.  Now, if I just have a roof over my head and a warm pillow, I feel lucky.  I feel as though everyone should consider going on an Outward Bound course, as it will change your life for the better forever, like it did mine.

Davis: I feel like I have learned how to communicate better with people. I loved the "check ins" we would have so often to see how everyone was feeling. outward bound helped the seven of us communicate about our differences, solve problems within our house that we could not solve at home, and brought us together closer than I believe any other Real World cast has been before. We learned to love each other for all of our assets and found great things in everyone as we all found success in the woods that was not obvious back in the city. I leave Outward Bound with a respect for my roommates and a sense of community as we worked together as a team to put together an amazing Outward Bound Wilderness course.

Q: What is the funniest thing that happened on course?

Jenn: If I could rewind and walk everyone back through our OB course I think we would all agree that there is no way there could possibly be a "funniest" moment because the entire course was nuts!  We laughed and laughed until the point of pain.  It was all way too much fun to even find something that was more fun than the other.

Brooke: Oh, jeez.  There were tons of things, I'm sure.  Having to go to the bathroom in the woods was probably the funniest thing to me, and the most embarrassing!!

Davis: The seven of us were the least likely to be found in the wilderness, yet we all came together and toughed through it. we had a blast the whole way through though, by making jokes, singing stupid songs and turning the experience into a positive one. As for the funniest thing, I couldn't think of one, we had a blast every day we were there.

Q: What do you feel you took away from your experience with Outward Bound?

Jenn: After my Outward Bound experience I feel like I took away so many great things.  What I am most aware of taking from my experience is the desire to want to see other people do well.  I learned that I am a go getter, I do have a ton of confidence in myself, and I will push myself to do more.  I've always wanted to do well and be successful; however I now have the desire to want to help others feel that way and to see other people succeed not just me. It so much more fulfilling when you see other people empowered by their own success.  It's no fun getting to the top by yourself....every things better with a friend!

Brooke: I took away a new way to look at life.  I learned to never take any of my blessings or luxuries for granted.  We never know how blessed we are until we go through something like this.  I learned that I have more strength and determination that I ever knew.  I have it in me, I just have to believe it.

Davis:I have a new respect for camping and the great outdoors. I loved everything I learned about the Leave No Trace mentality and respect for nature. I took away with me the most amazing views I've ever seen, a sense that I can survive on my own, and that I can accomplish numerous things I had never imagined as I pushed my limits and survived in the woods for 20+ days this summer.

Q: What were your thoughts when you found out you were going to be working for Outward Bound Wilderness?

Jenn: I'll be honest when answering this first question. I was not too thrilled because I wasn't really sure what Outward Bound actually was. It took a while for me to actually piece it all together and understand what we were going to be doing. After I understood I was very excited and a bit anxious to see how well I would hold up in an environment so unfamiliar.

Brooke: I didn't know what to expect. I have never been the most athletic or adventurous of a person, so the idea that I was going to be working and living in the wilderness scared me! On the same note, I was hopeful that maybe I could surprise myself.

Davis: When I was in high school I nearly went on an Outward Bound course. It was one in either Maine or Washington, I believe and involved kayaking. I didn't end up going on the course for financial reasons*, but when I found out this summer that our job was to be working with Outward Bound in Denver, I was so excited as I was finally getting to participate in something I had wanted to do for a long time now.

*Note: Outward Bound provides $2 million in scholarship assistance each year to those who qualify.

Q: What was hardest about your Outward Bound experience? How did you overcome it?

Jenn: Being put into an experience like Outward Bound is challenging in itself. Going into it blindfolded and unexpected (like we all did) is an even bigger challenge. I think the hardest part of OB was being able to trust yourself enough to push yourself outside the box of being comfortable. For me I think that I naturally have the desire to wanna get outside my comfort zone and see how much I really trust myself so I just went for it and hoped for the best. I feel like having had that attitude was the reason I had such an amazing time and accomplished the things I did.

Brooke: The hardest thing for me was not ever having any alone time in a comfortable place. There were no "breaks" really. I am the type of person that needs to sort of "recharge my batteries" every day, where I need to just be alone, lay down in a comfy bed, and clear my head. But at Outward Bound, there is no such thing! There is no time to relax, and there are no comfy beds! I think what helped me overcome this was to just accept that this was how this experience would be and was meant to be. It wasn't about comfort and mind-clearing breaks. It was about pushing yourself and being completely out of your element. And that is what Outward Bound is all about.

Davis: I personally found it hardest going without a shower for a week, but that was just because it was something I had never done before. I got over it because there was no other option, or I would sometimes take a dip in a freezing cold stream to feel at least a little bit clean.

Q: What was it like working for Chris?

Jenn: Working for Chris was awesome! I could not have asked for a cooler more chill boss than Chris. Not only did Chris introduce himself by repelling down the side of a rock but he did it with this really goofy silly grin on his face leading me to believe he was going to be really weird or really cool. It turned out he was both! ha ha! lol Chris had a way of working with us that I had never seen before from a boss's stand point...he put us all as equals and never made himself a bigger or better person than the rest of us. I had a blast working and learning from Chris. You can tell he really loves what he does and it really rubbed off on each of us which helped me better understand what we were really doing here and why anyone would do an Outward Bound course. I learned things about myself during our job that I probably would never had known having not done an Outward Bound course with Chris. He has a way of teaching and motivating that makes you want to learn and want to accomplish the goals you have set and then some. Chris is a tremendous person, teacher and friend. I will never forget the crazy conversations, click click bang bang, how old and how young, and the extreme risks he helped me overcome and accomplish. Thanks Chris for being you!

Brooke: Chris is a great person and a great boss. And he is an incredible public speaker! He has a lot of determination in all aspects of his life, and he genuinely cares about other people's success. Chris is strict in a polite way, and I liked that about him. He expects great things, and he gives great things. There was no "slacking off" with Chris. There were times when I thought I could get away with some things, but I learned soon enough that Chris never turned a blind eye to anything! But it was a good thing that he was that way; we wouldn't have learned as much from the experience otherwise.

Davis: Chris was amazing to work for. He was an excellent Outward Bound worker as he was "by the book" on everything, and really stressed excellence and craftsmanship. I learned so much from him and truly appreciate the "leave no trace" mentality and the mentality behind Outward Bound. He challenged me to push my limits while encouraging me to participate in strenuous activity, taking dips in freezing cold water, and climbing the most amazing mountains with views like I've never seen before.

Q: What would you say to a student getting ready to go on an Outward Bound course?

Jenn: I would tell a student getting ready to go on an Outward Bound course to be ready to do things that are going to challenge you mentally, physically, emotionally and teach you things about yourself that will assist you in becoming a stronger, wiser and a more confident person. The OB experience is something that will open your eyes to a brand new way of thinking and will motivate you to want to go the extra mile if you go into the experience with an open mind and an open heart to do things that may be unfamiliar. Stand tall, confident and never surrender!

Brooke: I would say that the most important thing is to have an open mind. You must go into the experience not having any preconceived notions or expectations. You cannot be stubborn or closed to new experiences. That was part of my initial struggle. You must remember that this is a time to leave everything behind and arrive as a blank slate as much as you can. If you can do that, you will gain tremendously from the experience.

Davis: Outward Bound will be something that will change your life forever. You may not realize this immediately, as it takes you out of your comfort zone, and puts you out in the wilderness. But you learn to rely on your own, you appreciate the beauty of nature, your life is impacted whether you realize this or not. You will take so much from this experience and it will be one you will always think back fondly on.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at therealworld@outwardbound.org.