The outdoors have never been more important and more valuable than at this moment in time.

Period. 

I do not need to belabor the fact that it has been a rough semester. I know if we hear the phrase “Well usually we do (insert any fun activity), but since these aren’t normal times we can’t” one more time, we’re all going to jump in the lake. Yet despite the negatives, I think there is a silver lining in this: it is a great opportunity to spend more time outdoors. 

Let’s be honest — we spend a great deal of time in our apartments and dorms, and we spend way too much time on our computers. Zoom fatigue is real. However, we have the privilege of living in a place with numerous plugs to nature. Our own campus is full of trees that are perfect for enoing, fields for Spikeball are almost too accessible, and the lake is always there to walk or simply sit around. In addition to Furman’s campus, there are tons of trailheads nearby that have incredible hikes, such as Paris Mountain and Caesar’s head. Also, you easily can grab a pizza from Sidewall with your pod and have dinner at Bald Rock…talk about a perfect (and safe!) night. 

Beyond activities, nature provides us with an outlet for the spontaneity we have sorely been missing. You can decide to wake up way too early to see a Pretty Place sunrise that surely will not disappoint. You can decide to go to Max Patch for the night even though it is way too cold. You can go on a hike that turns out to be miles longer than you thought and have a blast getting lost in the woods. 

My point is, we have no control over this virus or quarantine. We simply are being expected to follow guidelines and wait. And while I am not in any way suggesting these guidelines are arbitrary, I am staying that there are ways that we can still have our college experience that does not have to include merely sitting in our dorms. If hiking is not your thing, try it anyways. If camping is not your thing, try it anyways. If biking is not your thing, try it anyways. You may find something you enjoy that you never would have tried if this was just “a normal year.”

Prior to COVID-19, the Furman University Outdoors Club (FUOC) orchestrated a number of trips and events to get people away from a desk and into nature. I can fondly recall the weekly FUOC emails stocked full of activities and trips, and I impatiently wait for the day that those return. However, although FUOC is currently limited in its direct role of providing adventure opportunities for students, the mission remains the same and it remains feasible: go out and enjoy nature. 

So grab a jacket. Grab a friend. Grab a mask. And go.

Now is a time ripe with “can’t.” However, there are a lot of “cans” just waiting for us to go do them.