STEPReflection Name: Greg Behan

For your reflection of your STEP Experience, please do the following:

  1. Fill in the Reflection Form below and post it on your respective STEP experience page at u.osu.edu.
  2. Upload 1 – 2 pictures from your experience to your u.osu.edu postif you have some.
  3. If you created a separate blog, video, digital story, etc. about your experience, please attach a link to your creation to your u.osu.edu post as well.

STEP Experience: Mt STEP Experience: Alaska by Greg Behan

What?
My STEP Experience took me to Anchorage, Alaska to volunteer at a camp for children who have visual disabilities called Camp Abilities Alaska. That camp that I worked at was a week-long camp for children who have various visual impairments ranging from lacking a full field of vision to being completely blind. As a volunteer at Camp Abilities I was the “coach” in a one on one situation with a camper as we went through a daily routine of sports and other activities that included but was not limited to: tandem biking, track and field, goal ball, beep baseball, physical fitness, cardio workouts, obstacle courses, swimming, climbing a 3000ft mountain, and more. As a coach I was there to motivate my camper, assist them if they needed me, and just make sure that they were being active and having fun. Being a coach also involved you being there to assist your camper with any daily routines and activities they may have needed help with, although one of the many goals of the camp was to promote independence and campers learning to do daily things on their own we were their just in case. Being a coach at Camp Abilities was not all fun and games, it took a lot of work and required you to be very attentive and a good teacher for the campers at the camp because a lot of the children had other disabilities as well as their visual impairments and for a lot of them camp is that one time of year that they are physically active for long periods of time, are asked to take on challenges they are presented with, and are pushed, in the most encouraging way, to try things and get out of their comfort zones when it comes to physical activity and social interaction with others.
Being that Camp Abilities is located in Anchorage Alaska, I expanded my STEP experience and spent the week after camp ended exploring the great state of Alaska with two other Ohio State Physical Education students that also taught up at Camp Abilities. We rented a car and drove up to Denali National Park where we spent the next five days camping at Wonder Lake Campground right in the heart of Denali National Park in Alaska. While camping we saw bears, caribou, and moose; we took a dip in Wonder Lake; we got to see Mount McKinley (the tallest peak in North America); did some fishing; went white water rafting; climbed 7000ft peaks at Eielson and so much more. Being able to explore such an amazing place was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my entire life.
We also had gotten to know one of the campers at Camp Abilities that we brought him with us on this trip to Denali National Park and he did all of the afore mentioned activities with us. Paul, the camper who we brought with us, is fully blind and has been all of his life. He is from Anchorage and after getting to know him at camp and talking to him more we made the decision to bring him. He didn’t slow us down a step the entire time, it was amazing. Having Paul their made the entire experience even more rewarding. Words and pictures cannot even describe it.
So What?
I don’t even know where to start with this section. My Alaskan Adventure that included volunteering at Camp Abilities and going to Denali National Park still seems unreal to me when I think about it. I had the best time of my life to date. This STEP experience included a lot of firsts for me like: my first time getting on a plane; my first time going west of the Mississippi River; my first time at a camp as a coach or a camper; my first experience working with a person with a disability of any kind; and many more. I met so many great people whether they were fellow coaches at camp, the camp counselors (although I did know one of them prior to going), all of the campers that I got to work with and know on a personal level, the people I met in Denali, and even the people I got to know better like Brian and Will the two Ohio State students I went up to Alaska with for Camp Abilities and camping in Denali. Being a Physical Education major I thought I had limited options on what I could even do for my STEP experience and after I committed to this I am not only a better teacher for it, but I am honestly a better person for it too. Everyone in Alaska said that you could never go just once because you “catch the bug for Alaska” and I can happily say that this experience caused me to “catch the bug” and that I plan on going back to Camp Abilities this summer on my own funds to work at the camp again and then continue exploring the state of Alaska. I learned a lot of things when I was being trained at the beginning of camp how to work with children who have visual disabilities and that really helped me out this semester when I took my Adapted Physical Education course and worked with a child who has autism.
Most of all though I think I learned a lot about myself throughout this experience. Whether it was me finding myself as a teacher for students, or I had to be patient or motivational with a child, I adjusted and really feel like I had an impact on my camper’s life. I was voted Most Outstanding Coach as voted on by the campers at Camp Abilities and that really made me feel great about myself as a teacher and a motivator. I went into camp being scared not to mess up and I left camp confident in my abilities as an educator. I also got a little out of my comfort zone at times whether it was climbing a mountain or white water rafting and after I passed that initial barrier or fear or doubt I kept going and had some truly great experiences.
All of this was made possible because of being a member of STEP and I could talk all day about my experience in Alaska because it was nothing short of amazing. I didn’t even mention half of the things I learned through my experience here because it was so beneficial on so many different levels.
Now What?
Like I said before, my STEP Experience has already benefitted me in so many different ways. It showed me an entire new side of Physical Education when it introduced me to Adapted PE and after volunteering at camp I think that Adapted PE, or physical education with students who have disabilities, is something I am not only good at but it is something that I want to pursue for a career. Something like Adapted PE takes a special kind of person and according to a lot of people I have the skills and the passion to do it. This experience also, like I said, helped me do well in my Adapted PE course I took this semester because it was not my first time in this sort of setting and I was comfortable with any challenges it presents a teacher with.
This experience also was something I enjoyed so much that, like I said, I am planning on going back this summer and volunteering again and then exploring more of Alaska. Through Camp Abilities Alaska I have made a lot of friends and professional connections and I found out that there are more camps under the Camp Abilities umbrella in other states and countries so I think I might look into those as well and expand my horizons even more.
My STEP experience was honestly the coolest and most beneficial thing that I think I have ever done in my life and words and pictures cannot even come close to describing it. This experience was second to none and I am so grateful that I was able to do it.