Are You Expereienced?

Eric Boggs leads students on life-changing adventures to prepare them for future success.

By Cameron Branch

A satisfying popping sound broke the silence in remote Jinotega, Nicaragua on a blistering hot summer day. A group of pre-medical students from the University of Oregon, with a mission to improve access to clean drinking water in the small town, and their expedition leader Eric Boggs took shelter from the sun and dusty air in a makeshift store run out of a local’s garage. Fizzing orange Fanta sodas quenched their thirst and recharged spirits. After a prolonged moment of relaxation, empty orange cans started to hit the trash bin and the group slowly made their way back onto the dusty road as faded, old Toyota pickups slugged by.

The disparity between home and their present setting was striking. The lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation was a stark contrast to their privilege, privilege they now know was often taken for granted. As the road led the tired faces closer to their temporary home, a tropical coffee farm, one of the students remarked, “I just can't wait, I just can't wait to get back home. It's hard to be a gringo here and I'm tired of everybody always staring at me like I'm out of place.”

Having spent the day walking from house to house in the remote community collecting data for their largerscale effort to improve public health, Boggs replied with an understanding expression. The student’s comment was not taken so kindly by a young African American woman. Sporting a black student union T-shirt, she asked a question: “What's that like? I walk around Oregon and I'm often looked at the same way I'm looked at out here… like I don't belong and people aren't used to seeing people like me, people that are black.”

The conversation suddenly turned into a powerful debrief and, as they sorted through their emotions, many realized that each individual holds a unique perspective based on their own lived experience, identity, and associated privilege.

For the small group of pre-medical students from the University of Oregon, Nicaragua’s rustic lifestyle challenged their knowledge of history and medicine while also sparking realizations about cultural differences and privilege, lessons that cannot be taught through lecture or presented on colorful slideshows. Educators like Boggs expand students’ learning potential and open up an array of new paths and opportunities as they break traditional boundaries and step away from the belief that one size fits all.

That insight isn’t limited to Nicaragua, of course. It’s the type of lesson that transcends time and can only be learned through cultural exposure, personal experience, and overcoming adversity, all powerful benefits that experiential education provides. By bridging the gap between lecture and real life, experiential learning cultivates an environment that supports learning across the board and provides students with useful life-long skills. This innovative educational model is nothing new to Boggs, a college professor at the University of Oregon, as he leads groups of students on life-changing adventures and uses a physically and verbally engaging curriculum to prepare his students for future success.

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With large, clear-rimmed glasses, ironed khakis, and a firm half-smile, at first glance, Boggs might not seem like the type of guy to spend over 200 weeks of his life in a tent. However, despite his gelled hair and preppy appearance, his lifestyle and teaching philosophy promote an unrecognized yet invaluable aspect of education. Spending his summers leading groups of college and high school students all over the world, and winters teaching business classes, Boggs has devoted his life to showing students the ways of the world through his involvement in outdoor and experiential education programs.

Having personally struggled at the beginning of his college career to find his passion and place in the world, Boggs believes that the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) provided him with an experience that opened up an array of new opportunities and paths, expanding society’s narrow vision of success. He says, “for me, [NOLS] opened up a bunch of new versions of success, [and] taught me to do what I love and not limit myself to what was expected.”

Boggs had his first taste of adventure during his junior year of college when he took a semester off and went on a NOLS expedition to Gelian, Patagonia, an experience that completely transformed him. He fell in love with the simplicity and demanding nature of the rustic lifestyle, and after 30 days of kayaking followed by 30 days of mountaineering, he suddenly knew where he belonged. “I really applied everything I had learned throughout school and life,” says Boggs. “And after that semester I knew I had found something I was really passionate about.”

Boggs’ adventure cultivated a heightened sense of self and became a source of personal and career inspiration. He began working for NOLS at age 21, spending his summers in Alaska, leading groups through the Tongass National Forest and catching halibut out of his sea kayak while the wakes from nearby whale breaches rocked his boat. Winters were spent in Baja, where the desert meets the sea, or Chile, a hiking hotspot with a strong sense of community.

Boggs quickly developed a love for the principles of experiential education. “No matter where I go, I know that I am always going to work with people who have a common approach to education... We are going to use the same principles we would on an expedition,” says Boggs.

In his late 20s, Boggs faced a dilemma. Many of his older colleagues at NOLS were burnt out and in search of other job opportunities, a reminder that a placeless lifestyle can only maintain its charm for so long. Empowered to share his story and educate others, Boggs returned to school, eventually earning a masters in education at Pacific University.

After a few various teaching gigs, he landed at the University of Oregon, where he took part in creating the outdoor program WILD (Wilderness Institute for Leadership and Development) and began teaching business and leadership classes. Despite his new, more controlled environment, Boggs continued to build his curriculum around experience-based education. “When you implement different forms of experiential learning, students become more engaged and it’s challenging for them because they are adapting away from how they have been trained to learn their whole life into something totally different, immediately expanding their comfort zone,” says Boggs.

Experience-based learning has many beneficial effects for people of all ages. Wilderness expeditions, international adventures, internships, and lessons or projects that demand physical or verbal involvement, are all forms of experiential learning that build community, challenge boundaries, expand interests, and improve personal well-being. Boggs says, “being on an expedition—or doing anything challenging, really—with a group of people promotes personal development, a greater awareness of self.”

Margaret Faliano, a student at the University of Oregon, began her college career with a week-long backpacking trip through WILD and was left inspired by Boggs and awakened to a new world view.

“Throughout that trip, Boggs’ leadership was the thing that I relied on the most,” says Faliano. “I looked to him for guidance, support, and answers to any and all questions that I had. There were many moments when he really showed his expertise and how to get through a situation with a good attitude and that was definitely when it made me feel the most comfortable going into a new adventure, stepping so far outside of my comfort zone.”

Never having stepped outside the classroom for learning opportunities before, Faliano’s trip challenged her in ways she had never imagined and left her with valuable skills that she still carries with her today. “I learned a lot about endurance and especially teamwork in situations that I am just not too much of an expert in,” says Faliano. “In the classroom, I am very much the kind of person to be a leader, to take charge, but in wilderness survival I know nothing. I had to take a step back from the position I was so accustomed to and it pushed me so far out of my comfort zone, but that was why I am so glad I did it. I learned so much in such a short period of time.”

Experiential education has many academic benefits. The Cone of Experience theory, proposed by American educator Edgar Dale in 1946, states that people generally remember 10 percent of what they read, 20 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they see, and 50 percent of what they see and hear. Combining the senses through physical participation aids the retention of new information and strengthens problem-solving and critical thinking skills, benefiting students of all learning styles. “It teaches [students] how to take something that seems complex and intimidating and break down that task and overcome it,” says Boggs.

A five-year study of 12,750 students conducted by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction found that in 96 percent of cases, students who were involved in outdoor and experiential education programs performed as well as, or significantly better than, their traditionally-taught peers in all areas of academic assessment. Correlations between high levels of academic achievement and hands-on learning show that experiential learning is one of the most effective ways to retain knowledge and gain critical thinking skills.

Effective experiential learning is all about the process. The reflection period that occurs after an experience or outdoor adventure results in “improved self-efficacy,” says Boggs. “You take these new skills that are intimidating and through those lessons and the community that you build, students really recognize the value that they have.”

By restricting learning to lectures and standardized curriculum, school systems may deprive students of developing a stronger sense of self and larger purpose. “In education, we need to think about how we can set students up to figure out what they're passionate about and what they're good at, and have that turn into their purpose,” says Boggs.

By connecting classwork to current issues, community framework, and culturally relevant ideas, Boggs believes educators can work to bridge the gap between concept and curriculum and create a more inclusive learning environment. Boggs says, “in an ideal world, we’d put more focus on helping the community that you're learning in.”

Outdoor adventures, travel, community service, internships, and other experience-based activities are invaluable components of education and, in order to prepare future generations for success, should be used to enhance classroomoriented learning. “It's a crime that people can graduate college but not necessarily have a sense of who they are as a leader or communicator,” says Boggs. “If you can't have a conversation and can’t connect with peers or colleagues, then how are you really set up to thrive in the world?”