Outdoor-Focused Camp For New Aggies Visits Alumni Center

Participants in this year's first session of Texas A&M's outdoor-focused transition camp visited the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center on July 14.

Venture: Base Camp is an outdoor extended orientation experience that takes place both on the Texas A&M main campus and in the Texas Hill Country. As a transition program for incoming students, Venture Camps are similar in purpose to Fish Camp and T-Camp, but with a focus on outdoors and team-building activities, including camping, hiking, canoeing, rock climbing, and more. Participation in Venture Camp is open to new students who are admitted as entering freshmen or transfer students.

After checking in on campus in College Station, participants travel to the Texas Hill Country and spend four nights in a barracks-style facility at Texas State University’s U-Camp in Wimberley, which serves as the central location for Base Camp’s daily activities. Outdoor Adventures staff and student facilitators from the Department of Recreational Sports serve as guides for trip activities during the day. In the evening, students gather back at the barracks to participate in large and small group activities and discussions about college life at Texas A&M.

To conclude the session, campers and staff return to campus. On a visit to the Alumni Center, they hear about the importance of getting involved on campus. They also learn how being an Aggie is a lifelong experience that continues long after they graduate, and discuss the importance of building their personal Aggie networks. They also get to watch a "camp recap" slideshow on the giant Huddleston Video Wall.

Afterward, they visit the Bonfire Memorial to learn about that tradition before staying in an on-campus residence hall for the last night.

Venture Camp 2017 is broken into three sessions. Alpha Session ran July 10-15; Bravo session runs July 17-22; and the new Venture Camp: Veterans is set for Aug. 17-18 and geared specifically toward new students who are military veterans.

Photos by Kellie Malone '08