Adventure in the Adirondacks: My SCOOP experience
It is a warm summer night in the Adirondacks, and I am at a hoedown. The sky is painted a blush pink, a cool breeze blows off Lake Pleasant, and the sweet smell of campfire smoke wafts from s鈥檓ore pits. Hundreds of people happily chatter and laugh as square-dancing music begins to play.
I grab hands with the people on either side of me, all of us giggling as we attempt do-si-dos and promenades. I take a moment to look at the scene around me and think, 鈥淚 am going to like it here.鈥�
Just a few hours earlier, I moved into my dorm room, hugged my family goodbye, and boarded a bus to Camp Fowler in the Adirondacks, where we were welcomed by cheering upperclassmen. Together, hundreds of other nervous new students and I embarked on our first adventure of college, the Skidmore College Outdoor Orientation Program (SCOOP).
SCOOP is an optional pre-orientation program for incoming first-year and transfer students that takes place before mandatory new student orientation. This year, over half of the first-year class participated in SCOOP, choosing among programs that offer a range of experiences: hiking, canoeing, adventure courses, white water rafting, yoga retreats, swimming, and more.
For less outdoorsy individuals, Skidmore offers plenty of on-campus pre-orientation options that include opportunities to explore Saratoga Springs, engage in community service, visit local shows and record shops, participate in , learn about media making with MDOCS (Skidmore鈥檚 documentary studies program), or take a look behind the scenes at the .
As a first-year, I participated in the Wilderness Hiking and Canoeing program. These three days were packed with activities. My group completed an 8-mile hike through the Adirondacks, arriving at an island where we camped and explored for a few days.
We had plenty of time to swim, play games, explore the local area in canoes, have campfires, and stargaze. On our last morning, we woke up early for a sunrise canoe expedition across Lake Pleasant and back to base camp, where we reunited with our fellow SCOOP-ers for our journey back to campus.
These activities were just the backdrop for the true magic of the program: Bonding with new friends. My favorite memories from SCOOP involve the conversations I had with these strangers-turned-close-companions 鈥� whether on early morning walks around the island or around the campfire at night. With two eight-person groups and four upperclassmen leaders, Wilderness Hiking and Canoeing is a small program, which made us even closer.
Upperclassmen serve as mentors on every SCOOP trip, passing down valuable advice and serving as models of Skidmore鈥檚 kind, community-driven student body. As Emaline Relyea-Strawn '25, a fellow participant in Wilderness Hiking and Canoeing, reflects:
鈥淪COOP was a great way to meet people, make friends, and orient myself towards Skidmore in an informal way, so I was prepared once I got on campus.鈥�
Now, as a junior, I continue to regard SCOOP as an excellent way for new students to integrate into life at Skidmore. The bonds created through SCOOP are lasting; In the first few weeks of my first year, SCOOP gave me people to go to the dining hall with, helped me recognize friendly faces in my classes, and introduced me to friends to explore downtown Saratoga Springs with.
Two years later, a handful of the people I met during SCOOP are among my best friends, leaving me forever grateful for this experience.