Student Spotlight

Even before officially becoming an Aggie, Jackson Bolick was an outdoorsman. So when the time came to pack his bags and move to Aggieland after high school, he knew that he needed to acquaint himself with others who understood the beauty of the outdoors.

In hopes of finding his tribe, Bolick decided to take a trip with Outdoor Adventures in the summer before his freshman year at Texas A&M University.

“I wanted to take a look into what it might look like to be an outdoor professional,” Bolick said. “I was inspired by the staff members and the community that they offered and really demonstrated.”

With a brightened spirit and a new place to call home, Bolick began working for Outdoor Adventures shortly after his freshman year began; throughout his college career, he stood by other student staff to teach them the ropes, figuratively and literally. Bolick works as a climbing instructor at the Indoor Climbing Facility.

“He takes a lot of new staff under his wing, whether it be reaching out to new staff and asking them if they want to develop new skills such as lead climbing or simply being on shift staff and leading those shadow shifts, teaching them how to do things in the ICF that he, quite honestly, knows best,” said Emily Wax ‘24, a scheduling supervisor for Outdoor Adventures.

Bolick’s leadership at Outdoor Adventures is not exclusive to campus recreation, however.

“Being a student employee and working at Rec Sports — it’s given me lots of practical opportunities to put into practice everything I was learning about the professional workplace and working in teams. I was also a member of the Corps of Cadets during my time at A&M, and it was also a bit of a leadership laboratory where I could practice the leadership theories and lessons that I was learning over in that experience.”

For Bolick, being involved on campus meant not only participating in the different programs and organizations present at Texas A&M but also contributing to the development of the university and its students.

“Being a student employee throughout all my years of college has defined my experience as one where I’m able to give back a little bit to this institution and kind of speak to what it means to be an Aggie, to always be looking to give back and serve,” Bolick said.

He continued, “I think that working for Rec Sports is the best student job on campus, specifically with Outdoor Adventures. I’ve absolutely loved the educational and professional advancement opportunities I’ve had here – the trainings, the access to the facilities, the ability to pursue any interest that I think might be valuable to my development or experience that might be something that’s really going to add to my memories that I have from college.”

With his graduation just around the corner, Bolick can’t help but admire the impact that Outdoor Adventures has made — not just in his life but in the lives of Aggies past and present. Whether a veteran climber or novice walks through the doors, Outdoor Adventures is there to welcome home any and all who call upon it.

“They were here long before I arrived at this university and they’ll be here long after,” Bolick said. “It reminds me of a collection of gear in the Outdoor Adventures Rental Center. It belonged to Michael Ebanks, who tragically passed away in the bonfire accident of 1999. We have that collection of gear displayed here in the rental center as a reminder of the values that we hold dear as Aggies. I hope that that spirit and that set of values lives on long after I live through Outdoor Adventures.”

After graduation this December, Bolick will be moving to Colorado to start his career in supply chain management, but not before visiting Torres del Paine in Chile with his closest friends to commemorate his academic success.