Summer McKinnon
Hospitality worker Summer McKinnon liked the idea of a career in outdoor education. But because she didn’t have much of an outdoor or adventure background, she decided to test the waters first by studying a diploma, rather than jumping in ‘boots and all’ with a degree.
“The Diploma in Outdoor and Adventure Education at Ara appealed to me because it was just a year long,” she says. “So if I decided the outdoors wasn’t for me, it wasn’t a three-year commitment, but I’d still come out of it with a diploma qualification.
The ability to pathway into a degree if she enjoyed the diploma was also a factor in her decision. “The diploma gave me the ability to progress straight into the second year of the Bachelor of Sustainability and Outdoor Education if I was interested in pursuing further education.”
Summer’s considered approach paid off. She enjoyed the diploma so much that she felt confident and excited to move on to the degree.
“Both programmes exceeded all my expectations,” she says. “On top of all the skills I was learning across a range of outdoor pursuits, and the understanding I was gaining around the social, cultural, geographical and sustainable relationships with the outdoors, I was experiencing so much growth in my personal and interpersonal skills too.”
Summer loved the small class sizes at Ara, the ‘education outside of the classroom’ approach, and the supportive learning environment fostered by tutors and classmates.
She also appreciated being able to shape her degree towards a particular area of interest, which, she says, kept it enjoyable and interesting.
“It’s such a valuable course. It’s hard to quantify the value it brings to your life – not only from an education perspective, but from an intrinsic and experiential perspective too. It opened so many doors from me and gave me so many career and study pathways to choose from.”
Summer’s achieved a lot since graduating from Ara in 2017. She’s worked as an outdoor instructor in Australia and the UK, managed an outdoor education centre in New Zealand, gained a graduate diploma in teaching and learning and now works as a community ranger for the Department of Conservation. Next on the cards is a master's in environmental management.
Her advice to others contemplating studying outdoor education at Ara: “If you choose to do a diploma or degree, you’re going to discover what your passions are. When you figure out where your interests lie, pursue them with passion and determination because the results are so rewarding!”