Mayla Sumner’s enjoyment and appreciation for the outdoors began long before college. As a youth growing up in Ashland, a town in Southern Oregon near the California border, Mayla participated in outdoor activities and trips, including hiking and river rafting, through her school and community. These experiences fostered her interest in both her work at PSU’s Outdoor Program (ODP), as well as her major in biology with a focus in wildlife biology and conservation.
When Mayla started at Portland State in the fall of 2017, she found the ODP Equipment Center position listed as one of the opportunities available through the FLASH program. Because of her own experience participating in outdoor trips, she knew that she wanted to pursue a job where she could encourage others to develop a relationship with the outdoors. That is where her four-year journey with the Campus Rec community began. Her experience as a FLASH student motivated her to participate in the WiLD program, which led to her roles as an ODP Trip Leader and eventually the Outdoor Trips Student Coordinator. During her time working for the ODP, Mayla has especially enjoyed seeing the incoming groups of WiLDlings and FLASH students as they begin their journey with Campus Rec and the Outdoor Program.
“The Outdoor Program has been my whole community here,” Mayla says when reflecting on the importance of the relationships she has developed here over the last four years.
Mayla will graduate in the spring of 2021, and is “both excited and terrified.” She completed a river rafting guide school program last summer, and gained a season’s worth of experience leading raft trips along the Deschutes River in Maupin, Oregon. After graduation, Mayla plans to continue in that role, which will allow her to guide trips before transitioning into the next phase of her life.
Ultimately, Mayla’s goals include working in some capacity in wildlife biology and conservation. More specifically, she would like to work in an educational capacity, as she has come to enjoy the education aspect of her work at the ODP. She plans to leave Portland and return to her roots in Southern Oregon until an internship or job opens in an organization like the National Park Service or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mayla’s work at the ODP has laid the groundwork for her future career success.
“Get involved,” Mayla advises, when asked what message she would like to leave with Campus Rec student staff. “ODP offerings like the Climbing Center, Equipment Center, and outdoor trips can be intimidating at first; but once you try them out, you know they are safe spaces.”
Even Mayla herself, as an ODP staff member, was initially too intimidated to try climbing at PSU’s Climbing Center. Yet she eventually overcame her fear, and had a great experience climbing there. Mayla would like everyone to have welcoming and wonderful experiences in the outdoors, and while participating in outdoor recreation.
Thank you, Mayla, for your many contributions to Campus Rec and the Outdoor Program. We appreciate your passion for outdoor recreation, and your desire to share that passion with others through education and outreach. Congratulations on your upcoming graduation! You will be missed, but will always remain a member of the Campus Rec and ODP communities.