Throughout my three years at SWOSU, I have taken nearly every class offered by the Parks and Recreation department. As a parks and wildlife law enforcement major, I was able to experience what I believe to be one of the most unique degree fields in the state. While my friends were tasked with a major paper or a stressful midterm, my time was often spent doing mock rescues off a bluff or learning how to rappel into a canyon. As my time at SWOSU is coming to an end, I wanted to rank my top 10 favorite classes in this department. This list is my opinion, and I doubt all students will have the same list. Some factors, such as having more or fewer close friends in the class, can heavily impact the overall experience. At the original story link, here, you can see media attached to several classes. These are posts, pictures, or videos from MY time in that class.
Honorable Mentions:
- Risk Management: This class was all about managing risks and legal liability in the parks and recreation world. It seems boring, right? Well, not with Tyler Rickey as professor. While this class was lecture-based, there were tons of opportunities to get outside and take a look at potential scenarios. The class periods spent looking for risks in popular playgrounds around Weatherford were certainly highlights. It just missed out on a spot in the ranking simply due to the other classes just being more consistently fun. However, this class is super necessary for those eyeing a profession in this field.
- Ropes Course Facilitation: Leaving this class off the main list was a SUPER hard decision. We were robbed of a super fun final week due to the weather. If we had had that last week, it very well may have made the main list. This course was spent entirely at Crowder Lake, mostly on the rappel tower and ropes course. If you fear heights, this class is excellent for overcoming that fear! Paul Hummel taught the basics of facilitating a ropes course. This included everything from collaborative games with the group before beginning the ropes course, all the way to ziplining down from the course. We also learned how to safely rappel down from the course, using belayers to ensure you get down safely.
Top 10:
- Advanced Firefighting Methods: This class, taken with Eric Pritchard, furthered knowledge on portable pumps and how to bring water from one place to another. Beyond that, we spent lots of time driving UTVs in this course and practicing using the water pumps in them. Pritchard helped to make this class even more fun by creating collaborative team games, such as a race to get the hose laid and water from the pump to the end of the hose.
- Advanced Ropes: As the follow-up class to ropes course facilitation, this one was even more fun. Since almost everyone in this course had taken ropes course facilitation or had some ropes course experience, we were able to hit the ground running. Most class periods were spent at the rappel tower at Crowder Lake. Beyond simply rappelling, we learned how to perform self-rescues and how to rescue others. My favorite part of this class was ascending the tower. One week, we participated in a friendly competition in which the class was divided into two teams, and one member from each team was tasked with ascending the tower. Whoever’s team lost had to take all equipment back to the main office, not a quick process. The final was at the bluffs near Crowder Lake. We were responsible for gathering all our equipment and using it to perform a mock rescue at the bottom of the bluff. Although it took some time, our group succeeded.
- Wilderness First Aid: This class, down at the SWOSU Outdoor Education Center (also known as Cedar Canyon), featured some lecture days mixed in with lots of mock scenarios. A lot was learned in this class, including how to apply splints to broken bones in a backcountry setting. Ryan Haggard helped to make this class very hands-on, which includes hypothermia training. During the cooler spring months, we had to jump into freezing Crowder Lake. While half the class was shaking during their polar plunge, the other half of the class was tasked with treating these “hypothermia patients” when they got out of the water. This was done through methods we learned in class, including feeding the patient and placing them in a sleeping bag. I believe that due to my skinny, runner’s build, I may have shivered more than any student who has ever done this. It hardly felt like a mock scenario to me. As far as applicability for my future and my hobbies, this class may take the cake. I hope I don’t have to use some of the methods for treating injured patients in the backcountry. However, if we do, I believe this class certainly prepared me for that situation. Most years, this class involves an after-dark mock rescue for the final. However, we did not have this during my semester. That is often a highlight for students taking this course.
- Wildland Fuel Reduction: Often dubbed “The Chainsaw Class,” this class was just that. Taking place over the course of two weekends during the fall, the days were long, but they absolutely flew by. WFR served as the ultimate introduction to using chainsaws for wildland firefighting. Deep in Cedar Canyon, we were tasked with cutting three trees for the final. We generally cut cedar trees, as they NEED to go anyway. The cuts had to be optimal to get the tree to completely fall in the desired direction and, most importantly, fall as safely as possible. The completion of this class gave me my Wildland Fire S-212 certification, which was crucial for my summer jobs and helped me to skip some training and start working earlier.
- Natural Resource Management: The highest ranking “lecture class” on this list. Natural resource management is taught by Dr. Chad Kinder and is the most interesting class I have ever taken. Beyond just being an amazing person, Dr. Kinder is essentially a human encyclopedia, especially when it relates to the field of NRM. I believe that any nature or park lover, PRM major or not, would thoroughly enjoy this class. As a history nerd, I learned so much about our country’s public lands and how they came to be, and how they are managed even today. If you take this class, be prepared to learn a TON about our 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt. Dr. Kinder ensured he got to know his students in this class and really helped gear discussions towards their future career goals. Sometimes the class would get a little off topic, but that’s often when it became even more interesting thanks to Dr. Kinders’ wealth of knowledge. As an added bonus, Dr. Kinder loves to give out “fabulous prizes” in this class for those who can answer his random trivia questions!
- Outdoor recreation: As someone who loves classes that are different in nearly every period, this class was one of my favorites. This class focused on creating, developing, and organizing outdoor programs and classes. So essentially, students were tasked with creating a class on an outdoor activity of their choice and had to act as “teachers” of the activity. We were divided into groups, and each group had one class period to teach the rest of the class. The class schedule of all the activities included: rappelling, cornhole, bow hunting and camo, disc golf, campfire and cleaning + cooking fish, water purification, hiking and survival, rodeo day, then the class concluded with a Thanksgiving feast using Dutch ovens to cook the food. My group was tasked with teaching disc golf across Crowder Lake’s amazing disc golf course. Although I am not a good player, I can confidently say I was a good teacher. Even if you knew a lot about a topic another group was teaching, it was always fascinating to learn from another perspective. Most importantly, if you liked a topic someone taught, you just found a new hobby! If you didn’t enjoy it, then wait a week and learn something new!
- Alpine Adventure Education: Alpine Adventure (aka skiing and snowboarding) felt more like a trip than a class! I was fortunate enough to take this one twice, and the class was a highlight of my winter break during both years. This class took place over a few days and was located in Salida, Colorado. Transportation up there was the responsibility of students, but finding a group that would split the costs made it very affordable. During the day, we would travel to the resort, Monarch Mountain, and ski or snowboard all day long. The class featured longtime skiers and snowboarders who helped to teach the skills to beginners. For those of us who considered ourselves “advanced,” we could head straight to the slopes. After a long day on the mountain, we would spend the evenings in the beautiful town of Salida, get dinner, and hang out with other students before staying the night in a hotel. This class is relatively cheap compared to trips of a similar nature in Colorado. If you are a SWOSU student, I highly recommend signing up for this class. Even if you aren’t a Parks and Recreation student, this class is perfect for anyone looking for something to do over break, and also gives you a few extra course credits!
- Wilderness Survival: As someone who grew up watching “Survivorman” (Les Stroud) and eventually “Outdoor Boys” on YouTube, this class felt like I was training to be the next big online outdoor survivalist. Using nothing but a fixed blade knife and the nature in Cedar Canyon, we created rope, a bow trap, a figure four deadfall trap, and much more. We also learned how to create a fire using nothing but sticks and friction. It was very Tom Hanks “Cast Away” esque. The final in this class involved creating a shelter using only the natural materials found in the canyon. No tarps, no sleeping bags, just logs, branches, grass and whatever else we could find. Our group created a shelter that I was confident we could sleep in for at least one night. It felt like that of Brian from the book “Hatchet.” (Can you tell I have always had an interest in this kind of media?) Overall, part of what made this class so great was the community. Ryan Haggard made it super fun, and my fellow students helped make it even more memorable.
- Sail Canoe Hike Climb: If you’re looking for a class that is quite literally all “fun and games,” look no further than Sail, Canoe, Hike, Climb. Taught by Ryan Haggard, this is a class that has been around for decades and is gold for any outdoor enthusiast. During the warmer late-summer weeks, we did water activities. This began with kayaking, then we transitioned to canoeing, in which we purposely flooded the canoe and had to safely get back to shore. The next week, we sailed across the lake using several canoes and a tarp. After the water activities, we did some rappelling. This eventually led to us traveling down to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and rappelling into the 40-foot hole, essentially a canyon that goes straight down (probably more than 40 feet). Another activity that would undoubtedly help to conquer your fear of heights. We then moved into climbing, starting at the wellness center, then eventually ending up back at the Wichita Mountains, climbing up some vertical sections of rock on Mt. Scott. Towards the latter fall months, we ended up going on some hikes. The highlight of the class came at a hike at Roman Nose State Park, in which our class encountered (and accidentally stepped on) a rattlesnake. Upon realizing the snake was literally a foot in front of me and postured up thanks to being stepped on, I quickly shoved my way away, and the class snuck around the snake. This class nearly became a rescue mission. I would’ve been glad we paid attention in wilderness first aid…talk about real-life experience.
- Mountain Resource Management: This class was so memorable that I’ve already written a full article about it. Check it out here. Taught by Dr. Lisa Boggs (who could practically be called Dr. Yellowstone), this class is one I’d quite literally do again and again and again. My interest in this class first developed during my freshman year biological concepts class. Dr. Boggs spoke on Yellowstone National Park nearly every day and often found ways to incorporate Yellowstone into her lessons. By the end of that semester, she began mentioning plans to take a group of parks and recreation students up to the national park for a class. Although it was over a year out, I had already made it clear that I wanted to go. We flew into Bozeman, Montana, then drove down to Gardner, MT, where we stayed for the class. We were greeted by Yellowstone Wildlife Profile’s Brad Bulin, who guided the class throughout the trip. During this class, we saw grizzly bears, wolves, elk, deer, moose, bison, and so much more. Not only did we spot these, but we also learned all about biological processes involving these animals and how they are managed. Beyond the animals, we visited the Old Faithful geyser, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and other historical sites. In Dr. Kinder’s class, we learned so much information about Yellowstone (our first National Park). On this trip, we got to see so much of what we talked about in his class. This full-circle moment was special. To be able to put everything we did into one section would make this article twice as long. So, check it out in my other article linked at the top.
The SWOSU Parks and Recreation Department is so special. I believe that these classes are some of the most unique that you’ll find anywhere. I have fond memories of every single Parks and Rec class that I took, but these stand out to me as the most fun, memorable, and informative. If you are a fellow Parks and Recreation student, let me know what changes you’d make to the list!