Twenty students joined Ryan Yamashita ’13, assistant director of Outdoor and Adventure Recreation (OAR), for the program’s first day trip to Catalina Island this past spring. With an early launch time, the team headed to San Pedro to take the ferry to Avalon. The adventure started with a hike around the picturesque landscape and hills above the town. In the afternoon, students could choose their own adventure by paddleboarding, snorkeling, kayaking, and exploring Avalon more.
“This was the most impactful trip for me and was an amazing way to bring the first semester of our new program to a close,” said Yamashita. “I started tearing up as we returned to the ferry and left the harbor. You could see the mist around the island and the golden hour glow along the hilltops. As I looked around, it made me smile to see our students and be able to call this work. The trip went so smoothly. We had three seniors who had heard about this trip during my presentation to the tour guides in January and shared with me that they had been saving the date to be able to RSVP as soon as registration opened. And for them, this was the highlight of their senior year at LMU.”
Jake Richard ’25 agreed the trip was impactful. “I had never hiked Catalina Island before, and to hike up to the beautiful lookout point over the island with my buddies was such a memorable experience,” said Richard, a mechanical engineering major and president for the Surf Club and the Surf Team. “For me, the most memorable part of the day was watching the sunset over the island from the boat on our way back. This was a super memorable moment to share with everyone and the best way to reflect on such a successful trip. As a student, it’s important to be able to go on trips like this not only to get out and experience the outdoors away from Los Angeles but also to have an easy platform in which you can travel with your friends and meet more people on campus at a more personal level.”
For other students, including Ben Clifford ’24, a mechanical engineering major from Indianapolis, Indiana, the most memorable part of the trip was the second half of the day, where students broke off into different adventure groups, and he helped lead the snorkeling session with three other students. This marked his first time leading a major extracurricular trip, and he worried that the leadership responsibilities would hinder his experience. And in the end, it turned out to be a fun and rewarding time.
“We got wetsuits and walked to a cove just outside Avalon, where the water was calmer and clearer (it was also very cold),” said Clifford. “The experience was worth braving the cold, though. Swimming through the kelp forests, we saw a ton of different fish. My favorites were the Garibaldi – aka Catalina goldfish, California’s state fish. And it was great to be in this natural environment while getting to know the other students I hadn’t met before that day. While I had been snorkeling before, this was my first time in a while, and it was my first time doing it in the Pacific Ocean. The fish and the kelp were more colorful than I had experienced elsewhere.”
The trip also allowed the OAR program to begin to drive some graduate student engagement, with six graduate students joining the trip. One of the grad students had shared the opportunity with their program to encourage them to participate, including one that also served as a student adventure lead to help support the trip.
OAR trips such as this one to Catalina are important opportunities for students to connect with other students outside of their academics and the university atmosphere to experience something new together. Clifford shared how it’s been hard since the pandemic to meet new people. “I think this trip provided a great opportunity,” Clifford said. “When you’re in a new, interesting place doing things that you might not have done before, it becomes a lot easier to bond with other people.”
After the trip, many students reached out to Yamashita and the student leads expressing gratitude for this experience. “Students shared how the trip made their day and that this trip was exactly what they needed,” said Yamashita. “To me, that really speaks to the kind of work we do through this program, and I’m excited to share that with them.”
Both Richard and Clifford have had the opportunity to participate in other OAR outings during its first semester. For Richard, his favorite was a trip to Big Bear with a small group of students and staff, who got to go skiing and snowboarding for the day. “It was such a unique opportunity because it provided a cheap way for students to get up to the snow and experience something new all day,” said Richard. Clifford got to head to Corona del Mar for Earth Day along with Yamashita and the LMU Rock Climbing Club. “We cleaned up trash on the beach, climbed on the cliff faces above the beach, and swam in the water. Although I was not a part of the Rock Climbing Club, this was a great experience,” said Clifford.
“Catalina Island is one of those gems that’s so close to Los Angeles, but people often miss or don’t take the opportunity to go out to, so I’m really excited for us to open it up to our students and get them out there,” said Yamashita. “We aim for it to be more accessible to our students by providing transportation, discounted group ferry tickets, and then having student leaders to take them through the island to try out various activities.”
For anyone is interested in joining OAR on a day trip to Catalina Island next year, a fall day trip is currently being planned, and more details will be released closer to the start of the fall 2023 semester. Visit the OAR website for information about fall trips (details coming in early fall) and connect with them on Instagram.
