For many teenagers, their first days in college are where their next move is up to them: what to wear to class, what to study, what to eat and even who to spend their time with. There’s plenty of unknowns in the college experience, which is where programs like Auburn Outdoors at Auburn University come in.
Auburn Outdoors is a program area of Auburn’s Recreation and Wellness Center, with participation from a student team, that helps connect students with each other and the outdoor resources surrounding them. The Auburn Outdoors team has something for everyone, from group adventure trips to explore Alabama to a rental shop where students can rent everything they need for their next outdoor adventures. For some students, it’s their first taste of truly getting outdoors, and Auburn Outdoors helps break down potential barriers they may have.
And for students like Sid Warren, it’s a chance to grow their love of adventure and introduce that love to others.
Meet Sid Warren, an Auburn Outdoors team member
Sid’s family instilled a love for camping and being outside from an early age.
“As a kid, my dad had a stroller—I can see it now, it had three medium-sized tires. And he pushed me on the Homewood Shades Creek Greenway (also known as the Lakeshore Trail) as a little kid. So the Lakeshore Trail started it all for me.”
His family mountain biked around Red Mountain Park and hiked at Oak Mountain State Park, and during the summers, they would spend a month at the beach camping. As Sid got older, they went farther and farther from Alabama on trips, experiencing the Tetons and driving from Birmingham all the way to San Diego.
And even as he explored other spots, the Lakeshore Trail continued to be a vital part of Sid’s outdoor journey. He went from being pushed as a child to biking with his dad when he was older and running cross country on it. For his Eagle Scout project, Sid and his fellow scouts gave back to the trail that started it all for him and installed 3 AEDs to keep other trail visitors safe.
He ran cross country throughout his time at Homewood High School and mountain biked around the area, but he also took advantage of the chance to meet new people through scouting in Birmingham and working as a ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch. As a ranger (or backpacking guide), he helped young campers navigate backpacking and camping at a youth camp in Northern New Mexico.
When he began his freshman year at Auburn University, he knew he wanted to continue fostering that love of the outdoors and finding new ways to explore. In the beginning of his freshman year, he discovered Auburn Outdoors, part of the Auburn University Recreation and Wellness Center, and applied for a job there. Student workers for Auburn Outdoors are involved in all aspects of the program, from staffing the university’s indoor, 50-foot climbing wall and assisting students with economically-accessible rentals at the rental center, to helping students repair their bikes in the bike shop and leading group trips.
Getting outside and getting connected
Auburn Outdoors also offers adventure trips to get students off of campus and outside, exploring the wilderness around them. War Eagle Wilderness is a program for first-year students to connect them with new friends and the outdoors, taking place before or after they’ve completed their freshman orientation. There are also regularly-scheduled adventure trips, ranging from a single day hike to an extended trip over school break.
Sid has been a rental center specialist and also worked as a climbing wall supervisor before being promoted to trip manager, which is a role that empowers Auburn Outdoors student workers to connect with the students who have signed up for the trips and to lead the activities.
“By the end of a trip, it’s always cool to see the community that’s built. We’re all working as a team, we’re cracking up and making jokes and enjoying the outdoors together. And by the end of it, we’ve gone from strangers to closer companions,” Sid explained.
The students aren’t just building community—they’re also growing in their outdoor skills, which can range from beginner to advanced.
“Seeing the students grow and get more comfortable throughout the trips is really cool,” Sid said. “They may know how to take down their own tent now and pack up faster, or there may be some kind of gear aspect they learned. Or they may say, ‘I’m gonna lead, I’m gonna be in front of the pack and navigate us to this next section.’ It’s really cool.”
Empowering students at Auburn University and beyond
When Sid graduates, he’ll take his studies at Auburn getting his Geospatial and Environmental Informatics degree (a combination of geospatial information sciences and environmental data science) and apply it wherever he goes, whether he stays in the state or takes his talents to a new role in the US—or even internationally.
But no matter where he goes, he’ll be bringing the love of the outdoors with him and gratitude for Auburn Outdoors as an experience that let him grow mentally and connect with others.
“We’ve cultivated an attitude of good outdoor recreation and a really good community of people,” he said. “I look around at the student staff, and I feel that Auburn Outdoors cultivates an empowering mentality. At the end of the day, we’re proud of what we do and how we’ve left students with a valuable experience.”
