Leadership Starts Here
OA Leader's Only
Some assume the merits of risk to be self-evident (no A's without F's). Yet, this isn't a commonly shared value among students, parents, or even peer educators; they often don't understand risk and rarely advocate for it, seeking only "safe" opportunities. All students must embrace risk if they want to reach their potential and be prepared for the future that awaits. Presented by Christopher Barnes, Founder of the High Mountain Institute.
How to Apply to Lead Trips and Manage your Trips through the OA Leaderstore
In order to continue OA's Leave No Trace Initiative, we offer one LNT Master Educator trip and 2-3 LNT Trainer trips each year. LNT Trainers focus on developing a personal wilderness ethic and how to teach the principles of LNT to others. In addition to these responsibilities, LNT Master Educators, which receive the highest level of training offered by the Center for Outdoor Ethics, are also charged with training LNT Trainers and facilitating the development of this ethic in others.
A critical part of OA leader training is competence and confidence in dealing with emergency situations. The Wilderness First Aid and CPR instructors teach the core skills of patient care and assessment, and judgement and decision making for the field treatment of emergency situations.
CPR Instructors teach the 3 hour American Heart Association CPR course to OA leaders and other members of the University community. In order to become a CPR Instructor you must complete the CPR Instructor Course.
Technical Skills Trainers (TSTs) are key members of the leaders-in-training instructional team. They are OA Leaders who go through additional training to solidify their outdoor technical skill as well as develop skills necessary to be effective teachers. TSTs teach the LNT & Technical Skills course to students going through OA Leader Training.
Leader Trainers carry the tremendous responsibility of training Princeton students to lead groups in a backcountry setting. As a result, we take the qualities and qualifications of a Leader Trainer applicant very seriously. A Leader Trainer applicant should be comfortable in an (outdoor) group leadership role and ready to take on the next level of leadership: teaching others how to lead.
During the year, OA Leaders are responsible for planning both single- and multi-day trips. As trip leaders, you will need to apply to lead, contact participants, plan the trip, manage equipment needs, and complete various post-trip responsibilities, such as de-issue and expense reports.