James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus - University of Denver research center

This past weekend I went to the James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus owned by the University of Denver. This campus was built as a research and wellness retreat campus for students at the university. This campus is on 720 acres worth of wilderness, hiking trails, and mountain terrain. Located right next to Roosevelt National Forest, students at Denver are able to fully immerse themselves into nature and take time to relax and focus on mental health while exploring the vast territory and terrain that the Rocky Mountains have to offer.

(Small lake on the property, the rock face on the right is used for our guided rock climbing and scrambling activities)

The trip that I took has its own special name, First Ascent. Freshman students all have an opportunity to go up with a cohort of other students and travel up to the mountain campus for 72 hours. Over this three day time period students will hike, bike, rock climb, scramble, horseback ride and take on a challenge course, along with so much more. Group bonfires and hanging out in hammocks in the sun are a must, along with getting to meet so many new people you might not have been able to while on campus.

(The Kennedy Mountain Campus is home to so many different types of wildlife including many species of aspen and pines. These species are super important to the rocky mountain region because their roots run deep through the soil, preventing erosion.)

Personally at the mountain campus I enjoyed lots of sunshine, a couple of hikes with beautiful scenery (as seen above). I went horseback riding and spent time reading in a hammock. S'mores by a group bonfire and star gazing were my night time actives. I met so many lovely people during my time up there and I found that I came back a lot more relaxed and ready to tackle midterms than I did before I went up. During my time up there, I reconnected with myself again. My generation, more than any other is so attached to our phones and social media. The mountain campus only has overnight WiFi and little to no cell service during the day. This encourages students to disconnect from the internet and go outside. I would say that personally, I am pretty good with my social media usage and only really text or email people. However even I found that being without internet made me not worry or think about the stresses of my classes and helped me focus more on myself.

(My horse I rode at the Sundance Ranch, his name is Boon.)