A Promising Investment

After my first semester in the River Stewards 2014 Cohort, I am extremely pleased with the adventures I have experienced, the knowledge I have gained, and the friendships formed. The program has exceeded every single one of my expectations and has helped me view my new hometown, Dayton, in an entirely new light. I do not only feel comfortable with my fellow cohort members, but I feel like I have become a part of one large family including all of the older stewards, graduate students, professors and even some of the community partners. My college experience has seriously transformed in a matter of a semester thanks to my involvement as a River Steward.

My first memory was the 2-day kayak trip down the Great Miami. I only knew a few other students paddling down the river beside me, yet everyone treated each other with both respect and levity. Dayton was the last place I expected to fulfill my needs of being outdoors. The River Stewards provided the perfect venue to enjoy outdoor recreation, especially one of my favorite activities, fishing. Learning about the rivers in the watershed from our mini-courses was responsible for my fishing trips up near Taylorsville Dam where I managed to catch a couple of bass. Our cohort even got a taste of Dayton’s local history with our field trip to Sunwatch Village, a neat historical site I had no idea existed. There are already so many memories to remind me that I have become involved with a program I will be able to cherish for the rest of my college career.

I will admit that the senior class’s Rec Bikes was a great idea, an impressive achievement, and is already a very popular activity on campus. It will certainly be a tough project to compete with, but my cohort has already started brainstorming some ideas about what crazy, fun, and innovative thing we could bring to the UD students. With this being said, I am really looking forward to collaborating with my cohort to bring an imagination to life. The years to come will be filled with service, laughter, adventures, and creativity...I cannot wait! Merry Christmas to everyone, I look forward to seeing you all in January.