Ep.03: Briggs Shealy - Faith Based Outdoor Experiences

Dr. Joy James is joined by Recreation Management major, Briggs Shealy who shares how his participation in faith-based organizations opened the door to a variety of program opportunities, from day and week camps to extended outdoor expeditions. 

 

Melissa Weddell:

Welcome to the Outdoorosity Podcast. Get outside. Keep going outside. Where we share Appalachian State stories that entertain, inspire, and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story, with the goal to get you outside and keep you going outside, to improve your overall wellness. This podcast is presented by the Hope Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise and play on health, environment, and human development. The vision of the Hope Lab is to continue developing the perfect foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise and play, through interdisciplinary research. Feel free to check us out at hopelab.appstate.edu.

Hi, my name is Melissa Weddell, I'm a professor in recreation management at Appalachian State University, and a self-proclaimed outdoor addict. I'll be your host for the Outdoorosity Podcast. On today's episode team member, Dr. Joy James, also a professor in recreation management, interviews student Briggs Shealy. We will be discussing the title of the episode, Faith-Based Outdoor Experiences, where Briggs tells us his story of being introduced to the outdoors through faith-based organizations, and how that shaped his college journey.

Dr. Joy James:

We have Briggs Sheely here to share his story about getting into the outdoors. And Briggs, just want to say thank you for willing to take some time out to share your experiences with us.

Briggs Shealy:

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Dr. Joy James:

The first thing we'd like you to do is kind of introduce yourself, where you're from, why you came to App State, and tell us your favorite outdoor activity.

Briggs Shealy:

Okay. So my name is Briggs Shealy, I'm from Hickory, North Carolina, I lived there nine or 10 years, and I moved there from Greenville, South Carolina, where I spent the beginning half of my life. Right out of high school I went to a one year gap year program called One Life. That was a really, really awesome experience. I was able to earn college credit while traveling, and having these different experiences both outdoor interculturally. And those were all focused on just serving, and like really hands-on learning.

And then through that experience was really how impactful different experiences can be, and how they can be used for personal growth, and in other ways as well. Really just through that was where I started looking for different opportunities to pursue that as a career, and I'd already kind of looked at App before I went to that gap year program. And looking at App with that new perspective, just kind of what I wanted to do, I found the Outdoor Experiential Education major program, and I looked at that, I referred it to a couple of people that I had met through One Life, who were in that type of career. And they all said, "Briggs, this is a phenomenal program. You're going to end up exactly where you want to be, you should absolutely do that if this is what you want to go into." So that's really what attracted me to App at first.

Dr. Joy James:

All right, and what is your favorite outdoor activity right now?

Briggs Shealy:

Right now, I would say backpacking and camping. And then over the summer I worked at a ropes course, so I've also been getting into a little bit of that.

Dr. Joy James:

Cool. I'm going to have you tell us a little bit more about yourself, in terms maybe how you got into some of these activities. And so the first question I have, is how did you first get interested in the outdoors?

Briggs Shealy:

I remember my first backpacking trip was back in maybe my freshman year of high school, and I kind of did it through an extracurricular class that my friend's dad, my roommate now actually, his dad led this extracurricular backpacking trip, and I absolutely loved it. I loved getting outside, just living with the things just on my back, and just using my hands to forge this type of adventure. And that's really what I loved about it, it was just the adventure, and hiking, and sleeping in different spots.

Dr. Joy James:

Where did you guys go?

Briggs Shealy:

We went to Shining Rock.

Dr. Joy James:

Oh, nice.

Briggs Shealy:

Yeah, so it was a good spot, super pretty. I don't remember a lot of that trip, besides when I was in my tent. We spent one or two nights out there, and one of the nights I remember distinctly in my tent I heard some rustling around outside. And since this is my first backpacking trip of course I overreacted, and instantly thought it was a bear. And so I was sleeping with my friend, I was like, "Hey Jack, is there a bear outside?" And so one of us pokes our heads outside, and was like, "No, it's just someone going to the bathroom." I still distinctly remember that to this day.

And so that was really my first experience. And then I did a couple of other just short camping trips, hiking trips after that, and really what I love about the outdoors is just the sense of adventure, and just being able to do things with your hands. I've always been super physically active, and just enjoying being outside, so backpacking kind of a correlation of the adventure, being able to do stuff with your hands, and then just getting outside into nature, which I absolutely love. And so One Life really kind of reinforced that, we did a couple of backpacking and survival trips, through those I saw how those outdoors experiences can be used in a really meaningful and intentional way.

Dr. Joy James:

So the extracurricular backpacking, you said your now roommate's father led that. How did you find out about it? Was it your friend just said, "Hey, come go backpacking with us." Or was it a class through the school?

Briggs Shealy:

So it was a class through the school, yeah.

Dr. Joy James:

Cool. The second question is, you're referring to One Life, can you share how you found out about One Life? And then you've talked about why it was appealing to you now, it was service and adventure, did they advertise that they were going to be outdoor survival, and doing some of these things? How'd you find out about it, and how did it appeal to you?

Briggs Shealy:

In high school, my senior year, I was really back and forth between a lot of different options for college. I was looking at App State. I looked at Gardner-Webb University. I was looking at One Life and a couple of other colleges, and I really just couldn't decide what I wanted to do at all, and I didn't really feel led towards any one thing in particular, more than the other. I really liked the appeal of One Life, because it kind of gave me this space to be able to figure that out, without feeling I had to commit to something. Through high school, I did a bunch of dual enrollment for my junior and senior year, and so I was able to earn a ton of college credits through that. Knowing that I could go do One Life, I could experience this travel, and these different type of experiences, and not really get behind on school that much seems like a pretty good option.

And really what appealed to me about One Life, was just the hands-on experiences that they focused on. So the way they worked One Life was we would have classes, and so we were able to earn college credit during the program. And so we would have these classes, and we'd do a week of in-person class, and then we would go outside of the classroom and do different service and experiential stuff, which all related back to what we learned in that class. And then we did another week where we would actually go and take a trip, and that trip would kind of still be focused on this experiential part, we could go out and kind of do field trip almost, but a little more intentional that also relates back to the class and just helps reinforce that learning.

And then the fourth week we would have guest speakers, and do teach-backs, which is where we actually were able to teach the material that we were learning back to the class. And so all of that was really just focused on reinforcing learning, and for me personally, I knew that I was a very hands-on learner, and the best way I was going to learn how to do something was through experiencing it. And the classes we took were classes like Life Calling Class, Basic Christian Belief Class, A New Testament Survey Class. We also did outdoor leadership style class, and so classes like that, that had real practical implications just for me in my life. And I just thought this couples exactly what I learned best, and just some cool class content as well. And there was also some pretty cool trips.

Dr. Joy James:

Well, so tell us more. Were you camping, or were you staying in churches? Where were you going? How were you put up for these trips?

Briggs Shealy:

So I'll talk about those first, the whole program was based out of a college in South Carolina called Southern Wesleyan University. While we were doing our classes and a couple of experience weeks, we would just stay there, and we had a dorm, and that dorm was where our whole program of people stayed and lived. And then when we went on the trips, it kind of depended on the focus of the trips. So our first trip was out to Colorado, and it was kind of a two-part trip. The first part of the trip, we literally did go spend the nights in the woods, but we went out there, and then they were like, "We didn't bring tents for y'all, so you have to make your own shelters." And so we spent three nights out there in our own constructed shelters with just a sleeping bag, and a sleeping mat, and two pairs of clothes, and that's all we were allowed to bring with us.

Dr. Joy James:

Oh my gosh.

Briggs Shealy:

That was a pretty crazy experience. I was thriving. I don't know if everyone on the trip was thriving, but I enjoyed that a lot.

Dr. Joy James:

Was your shelter, was it sticks?

Briggs Shealy:

So we used a bunch of the logs, and kind of built a low shelter around a tree. And then they gave us the opportunity to win some different type of sheets, so we ended up being able to put those over our shelter. And since we built it low to the ground we kind of kept the heat in, and there were six guys in there, so we were able to kind of snuggle up together a little bit. So that was that trip, and then the second half of that trip we actually stayed in a hotel, and did different experience stuff around the city of Denver itself. So it really just depended on the trip. When we did our trip to Nashville, we stayed in a type of hostel. When we did our trip to Cumberland Island actually, and we did camping out there. And then we went and stayed at a person's house that was on an old citrus nursery, which was kind of a cool experience.

Dr. Joy James:

And was that Colorado more the survival one you were talking about, or was there another survival experience?

Briggs Shealy:

So that was more the survival one. We also did Cumberland Island, and a week long backpacking trip throughout the semester, but that Colorado one was really the big survival one. And really since it was at the beginning of the year, it focused on kind of pushing us into these attributes of group development, through storming, and conflict, and creating this space for our group to grow together and to bond.

Dr. Joy James:

Like you said, if you're snuggling together, you pretty much get to know each other really well.

Briggs Shealy:

Yes. And then over the entire year really, our group of people, we had 24 students, and we all lived and did everything together. So we got really close over the whole year.

Dr. Joy James:

Cool, sounds like it was a wonderful experience. I think that's why you and I were talking in class the other day, I realized this would be a great topic for our listeners to be able to hear about your experience. I'm going to go back to a little bit more about yourself before One Life. So we know your favorite activities right now are camping and backpacking, are there any other outdoor activities that you enjoy doing?

Briggs Shealy:

Yes, I also really enjoy mountain biking. I've ridden a bunch of trails up here, and just bunch of trails around Mount Pisgah, and DuPont Forest all up there, so I love mountain biking. And then also, like I said, I worked at a ropes course over the summer, and that kind of helped me conquer my fear of heights a little bit, so I've been getting a little bit more in the rock climbing this year.

Dr. Joy James:

What ropes course did you work at?

Briggs Shealy:

So it was called Treetop Adventures, It was in Hickory, North Carolina.

Dr. Joy James:

Yeah. And now you think, "okay, I can go do some rock climbing?"

Briggs Shealy:

Yes.

Dr. Joy James:

Cool. Mountain biking, did you get into that in high school, or is that something more of a later pursuit?

Briggs Shealy:

Yeah, so I did get into that in high school, I saw a couple of videos of people mountain biking, and I was like, "Man, that looks awesome." I knew my friend was a really avid mountain biker, and so I got him to go look at bikes with me, and I went and bought a bike, and then we started hitting trails, and been doing it ever since then.

Dr. Joy James:

That's so cool. Back in my day there was movies, we didn't have videos or YouTube, and so you had to kind of know somebody to even know anything about some outdoor activities. So it's so cool to hear you talk about, "I saw a video and thought that'd be really cool." And then you knew a friend who did it. And so there's so many ways to connect in the outdoors now with the internet kind of supporting us. How do you think you became comfortable in the outdoors to be able to sweat, get dirty, go to the bathroom? Who influenced you, or what were some of those experiences that kind of guided you to that comfort?

Briggs Shealy:

Yeah, that's an interesting question. I honestly never really thought about that. Let's see, I think just growing up my family was always just very, very active, and my dad was a college football player, and a college football coach for a while. And so we all loved playing sports, we all loved just being active. And so really just ever since then my whole family's just really enjoyed going outside, hiking, and doing all of that. And then when we used to live in Greenville, South Carolina we had a big old yard, and it stretched all the way back, and there was this creek behind us, and then there was just a ton of woods. And I had two brothers, and so me and my brothers would always go back, we'd play in the creek, we'd build forts back in the woods, we'd have a couple of neighborhood friends. And my parents were just comfortable with letting us go out and just get dirty.

They gave us the freedom to be able to do that, which I think was huge. And then also my granddad lives in Sumter, South Carolina, and he probably has close to a hundred acres of property. It's all just big pine woods, and then he has a pond. And so whenever we went to his house, he would always get us to help him working outside, going fishing in the pond. He would have some tractors and stuff, he let us just ride on the tractors with him. And he would always just kind of bring us alongside whatever project he was doing, so really just through that. And growing up I was exposed to just being outside a lot, and being okay with working hard and getting dirty, and then also just playing sports, and enjoying physical activity.

Dr. Joy James:

Well, you have a very normal experience to getting into the outdoors, many people who become comfortable in it find those childhood experiences of building forts, playing in creeks as one way to get into the outdoors. And often some people kind of meet people in college, or later in high school, that kind of get them into it as well.

Briggs Shealy:

Well. I think that's a really cool thing about here at App State, is everyone really enjoys being outside, and doing stuff outdoors. So you don't have to go very far to find someone who's willing to go outside and do something.

Dr. Joy James:

Right, it's just a matter of being open to being with someone you don't know. Have you been mountain biking over at Rocky Knob and met somebody, and then all of a sudden realized, we can mountain bike together?

Briggs Shealy:

Yes, I have.

Dr. Joy James:

It's amazing how it pulls this together in a variety of ways, our passions.

Melissa Weddell:

Listening to Briggs share his experiences, you realize there are many avenues to being introduced to the outdoors and organizations that can support your future endeavors. Faith-based organizations offer a variety of program opportunities, from day and week camps to extended outdoor expeditions. The literature tells us that faith, and the outdoors, often share a harmonious relationship, where spiritual experiences take place in nature. Time in the outdoors can be restorative, and create a spiritual bond to the natural world, along with those you share it with. Furthermore, the outdoors can be faith affirming, and offer a connection to a higher power or order. The natural beauty of nature is inspiring and provides space for us to reflect, meditate, and offer gratitude for the life we are living.

Dr. Joy James:

So could you tell us a story about an outdoor experience that influenced you? It could be a funny story, it could be a lesson that you learned story.

Briggs Shealy:

I think the most impactful outdoor experience I've had, also the most funny now that I kind of think about it more, was my trip with One Life to Cumberland Island. And just through that trip, we really focused on vocation, and different aspects of vocation, and how that can be meaningful, and how it can be used for more than just making a lot of money. More of a purposeful attribute of vocation, it's okay to do something that you love to do, and no one can blame you for that, and it's not always just about making a lot of money. So really just through that trip. I don't remember really any specific one moment where that kind of caught on to me. I think it was kind of more just a slow saturation through the trip.

And we had Sam [inaudible 00:17:09] with us, who I mentioned earlier. I just talked to him, and just asked him questions about what he did, really just through talking to him I kind of felt this desire inside me, wow, that is awesome. Just to see people grow through these outdoors experiences, and see them kind of face challenges and overcome them is really an awesome thing. And so the funny story that I remembered from there, actually there are a couple.

One that comes to the forefront of my mind, on Cumberland Island, since it's on the ocean, it's on the coast, our campsite was pretty close to the ocean. And one afternoon we kind of had just some free time while we were spending time there when we got to camp, and I couldn't find four of the guys. And so we were going around looking for them, and we went off towards the coast, and we met them coming back from where the ocean was. And we were like, "Hey guys, what have y'all been up to?" And they were like, "Oh, we went swimming." And we were like, "Cool." And they were like, "Yeah, we just stripped down all the way and went skinny-dipping in the ocean."

I was like, "Oh, all right." And then the story goes on, and they were in the ocean. Anyways, this couple comes walking up on the beach, who was just there for the day or something with their young kid, and they're all in the ocean, and they're like, "Oh no." And so they had to just sit out there until they passed by, just over waist deep in the freezing cold ocean water in the middle of November, so that was kind of a funny experience. And there's also wild horses on Cumberland Island, is kind of the funnier story. And my friend tried to get really close to one, and ended up almost being attacked, but he wasn't, thankfully

Dr. Joy James:

You've mentioned two really classic things, it's feeling freedom in the outdoors so that you can kind of do some things, but then you don't realize other people are using those outdoors, and might come across. That's the fun I think of skinny-dipping, I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing, however getting caught adds to that level. And then while the ponies aren't necessarily wild animals, but interacting with wild animals, or animals who've gone feral, can lead to some interesting experiences and dynamics. One of the things too, I do want to ask based on some of our conversations, and just what I know from you, it sounds like the outdoors has been transformative in terms of figuring out your career path that you wanted to do, and strengthening in your faith. How has the outdoors shaped your faith, or strengthened your faith, if you're willing to share that?

Briggs Shealy:

Okay. Yeah, I would love to. Our One Life trip to Colorado, I remember this distinct moment. So we didn't really backpack in, we kind of more of just walked in, they dropped us off with the van and we walked up to where we were camping, because we were just staying in one spot. And so we had to lug all of our gear up on top of this hill. I've never forgotten this, this really stuck with me ever since that moment. I was carrying our five gallon water cooler that we were going to be using for water, I was walking pretty close to our director of One Life. As we were walking up the hill, one of the other students asked me, he was like, "Hey Briggs, do you need some help carrying that or something?" And they were just like, "Do you want to switch off?" And I was like, "No, man, I got it." And I just kept chugging it up the hill myself.

And so the director was standing right there, and he's kind of been one of my mentors. So after we got up the hill and set up camp, he pulled me aside, and he was like, "Hey Briggs, I saw that exchange happen. What were you thinking when that happened?" I was like, "I knew I had the physical and capability to lug it up the hill, and I wanted to finish the job." And he was like, "But what if in doing that, in letting the other student do his own thing, and be comfortable and not have the burden of carrying the water, you stole that experience from him so that he couldn't face the challenge of carrying the water up the hill, and you didn't really humble yourself to be able to receive help from other people."

And so he kind of mentioned the thing to me, he was like, "Maybe you're thinking you're being selfless, but actually you're being selfish." Stealing that experience from him really stuck with me ever since then, and kind of been a filter throughout my life. What areas am I actually being, not just in outdoors experiences, where I'm thinking I'm being selfless and actually being selfish, and trusting myself to operate things better than asking people to come alongside me, or specifically in my faith asking God to come alongside of me.

And so really that's been kind of a life motto for me ever since then, is being able to humble myself to not only invite other people to come alongside me and face challenges with me, but also invite God. And that's been something that's been challenging for me, and also been really good for me, because a lot of times I like trusting myself to do what I got to do, because I think I'm a pretty capable person. But parts of the message of Christianity just talk about, how we aren't capable, and how we have to depend on God for our needs, and the fulfillment of our desires, and how his plans are better than ours. And so really just kind of fostering that idea of trust.

Dr. Joy James:

What a powerful experience.

Briggs Shealy:

Yes, it was awesome, and that image is solidified in my brain.

Dr. Joy James:

I'm still struggling with this idea of, like you said, "I think I'm being selfless, but I may be being selfish in not letting others to help me." And particularly in the outdoor settings, it's more of a catalyst for being able to see that. So thank you for sharing that story.

Briggs Shealy:

Yeah. And one more thing on that thought, during our backpacking trip with One Life, one of the people in our hiking group had something going on with her hip, and she was just not able to carry her pack well. But she kept just toughing it out, and wanting to finish the thing, because she didn't want the burden to be put on us to help her carry her pack.

But she ended up just not being physically able to finish out the hike, and so me and the rest of the people in our hiking group ended up just sharing the load of her pack between us so she wouldn't have to carry it. And so not only was that a thing for her, but it was also just a thing for us to be able to feel like we were helping her, and just have that sense of contributing to her wellbeing, and then also I know it was a powerful experience for her. And so really just thinking about how powerful backpacking trips like that. That's really why I love backpacking, for opportunities like that, where people have to come alongside each other, and realize that they can't do things on their own.

Dr. Joy James:

And it's a really introspective moment, you are the one who had to be helped, and you have always been very capable. It's a humbling experience to be helped by everybody, at the same time you're having to interact with yourself, and go, "I need to accept this." And so that's a learning process too.

Briggs Shealy:

Yeah, and that was one of those experiences that pinpointed for me what outdoor experiences could really be.

Dr. Joy James:

Yeah, cool. Well, I'll end the official interview with that. So the next part, we have a segment called The Dirt on Getting Outside. And we ask every person that we interview these questions, the first question is, what is your biggest fear in the outdoors?

Briggs Shealy:

Oh man, I would say still, even to this day, is heights. So even working the ropes course over the summer, we were always strapped in, harnessed up, fully clipped on at all times. And so I still don't really love heights, they still make me kind of uncomfortable.

Dr. Joy James:

I think that's a reasonable thing. I don't disagree with you. Although I love the comfort of being strapped in, it still doesn't take care of the fact that you're still 50 feet in the air.

Briggs Shealy:

That's true.

Dr. Joy James:

All right. What is your most embarrassing outdoor moment?

Briggs Shealy:

Oh no. Nothing really comes to the top of my head right now. Oh I know, so on one of the backpack trips with One Life we were walking through the forest, and when you go through a spider web you're always just flipping around, and throwing your hands everywhere, trying to get it off you. And there's that fear that, "I don't know if the spider's on me." And so I walked through a spider web, and I had never had the spider actually be on me, so I wasn't freaking not too bad, and I was just trying to peel it off my face and off my shoulders. And I turned around to one of the people behind me, and I'm like, "Hey, you don't see the spider on me?" He's like, "Briggs, it's right on the side of your face." And I screamed, because I do not like spiders. And I was like, "No."

Dr. Joy James:

Isn't that funny? You're cool, calm, and collected, and then when you realize it was on you.

Briggs Shealy:

And so I was slapping my face, trying to get it off, and he was just laughing at me.

Dr. Joy James:

Yeah, I've had some of those. All right, what is an outdoor tip, or what is something you can't live without in the outdoors? So you can choose one, or you can do both of those.

Briggs Shealy:

I really love my food in the outdoors. So I will sacrifice some comfort, as far as clothing goes, in order to bring more food. And I'll just mention my favorite food item, if you can bring it, is taking a banana actually and wrapping it in some tin foil, and then cutting it open and putting chocolate and marshmallows inside of that, and just putting it in the coals of the fire. It's so good.

Dr. Joy James:

It's like a banana split.

Briggs Shealy:

It is, exactly.

Dr. Joy James:

And it's hard to explain that to people. It's like, "It's not ice cream, but it is tastes like it's a banana split."

Briggs Shealy:

The first time I heard about it, I was like, "There's no way that's good." But now I love it, it's really good.

Dr. Joy James:

Well, thank you for sharing that recipe. And the thing with food that I've noticed with camping, or backpacking, backpacking in particular, even crappy food tastes better. Have you noticed that?

Briggs Shealy:

Yes, you can make some really good meals out of some crappy food.

Dr. Joy James:

But if I made that same meal at my house, it doesn't taste...

Briggs Shealy:

It wouldn't taste good.

Dr. Joy James:

No, I don't know if it's because you had to work for it, or you're just so darn hungry, it just tastes phenomenal. All right, last question we have for you is, what is your favorite local outdoor spot here in Boone, North Carolina?

Briggs Shealy:

I think my favorite one, just within pretty easy driving range, would be Grandfather Mountain. I love hiking up the Profile Trail. I actually did it by myself a couple of weeks ago, and doing it by myself, that was phenomenal. I hiked all the way up to Macrae Peak, and just the view up there is great, the hike is awesome.

Dr. Joy James:

It's practically bouldering too.

Briggs Shealy:

It is.

Dr. Joy James:

You're climbing over things, you're going up ladders, how did your heights do on the ladders?

Briggs Shealy:

Not too bad, honestly. Since they are kind of relatively close to ground, it's not too bad. It's kind of like an off on thing for my fear of Heights.

Dr. Joy James:

Well Briggs, thank you very much for being willing to be a part of Outdoorosity, and thanks for sharing your experiences.

Briggs Shealy:

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Melissa Weddell:

Often when you combine adventure education with being in the outdoors you gain confidence, and refine your perceptions of what you're capable of when you navigate challenging situations. We just want to thank Briggs and Joy for sharing these stories as we sign off, and we always like to end with a quote that encourages you to get outdoors. As William Shakespeare said, "The earth has music for those who listen."