Pacific Index

Senior Dahlia Leighton combines majors to boost engagement in outdoor adventure 

   For many Pacific seniors, capstone is a daunting mountain to climb. Senior Dahlia Leighton has seemingly complicated that struggle by combining both of her majors, Spanish and outdoor leadership, into one project. However, Leighton showed nothing but excitement and passion when discussing her capstone. 

   “My overall goal is to design a multi-day outdoor adventure program specifically to increase Hispanic participation in outdoor adventure,” Leighton explains confidently. Aside from wanting to combine her majors, Leighton was inspired by her experience working with Adventures Without Limits. They partner with Hacienda, to provide activities for Hispanic youth, which became a driving force in the creation of Leighton’s capstone. 

   She says passionately, “I’ve actually gone on some of those trips where we’ve taken groups of kids out snowshoeing… and just within the three hours of being with these kids on those trips I’ve seen so much growth and happiness in their lives, that was kind of the turning point of, like, this is what I want to do.” 

   The next step was research, which included looking into general benefits and limitations in outdoor adventure, and those specific to the Hispanic community. Leighton explained that Hispanics “have a higher percentage of long-lasting benefits from the trips than their Caucasian peers do,” in spite of their lack of access to programs. Limitations include cost barriers and “cultural limitation… like the concept of familismo, they want to spend time with their families so being away, that doesn’t really follow along.” 

   However, Leighton’s research also revealed an underlying hurdle that emphasizes the importance of increasing Hispanic participation in outdoor activities. “I think the biggest challenge is that there’s just not a lot of research on this topic. There’s getting to be more… but when you’re trying to find peer-reviewed articles or recent articles there’s not a whole lot, and it’s almost kind of concerning.” 

   As a result, Leighton has created her own program with the intention of counteracting this severe lack of engagement. She explains “So, my goal right now with it is it’ll be a week-long course that youth can sign up for, ranging in ages most likely late elementary school through high school.” The first three days will be held during work hours and include various outdoor activities that will prepare the kids for the second portion, a three-day, two-night backpacking trip. 

   To increase Hispanic participation, Leighton aims to lower cost and language barriers. One of her goals in her planning is to ensure transportation and most gear is provided to remove some of the big expenses in outdoor adventure. Furthermore, she adds that “All of the materials that I’ll be providing and creating will all be bilingual in both English and Spanish because that’s one of the biggest limitations, specifically for the Hispanic population…”. These “pre-adventure materials” will help to explain the program to parents and kids alike. 

   To further this engagement between Spanish and English speakers, Leighton will show her project through two presentations. The presentation in Spanish details her background research used to create the final program, which will be explained in her English presentation. Each will have supplemental information in the other language, ensuring speakers from both sides can understand all content. 

   In addition to being considerate of others’ language, Leighton has also made sure to be respectful in her own speaking. “The other challenge I think I’ve been having with this is similar to proper wording, but not wanting to almost single out the Hispanic community. Especially when I’m talking about limitations or the benefits,” she explains. 

   Though she initially focused on finding barriers specific to the Hispanic community, Leighton transitioned to finding factors applicable to everyone in outdoor adventure. She now addresses that all groups face barriers to participating in outdoor adventure, however Hispanic people face these barriers at a higher level due to “demographic and socioeconomic situations.” 

   Maintaining a considerate yet caring attitude, Leighton is close to completing her project that she expresses much interest in. She says excitedly that her favorite part of the project “is actually creating the almost hourly schedule of the program I’m designing… So I’m like how can I create the environment that will be the most fun but also get these goals accomplished by the end of it, and I think it’s so much fun to just brainstorm.” 

   Though Leighton’s program is hypothetical, she has poured extensive effort into creating something that she will hold onto long after college as she hopes to be able to carry out this program in real life. She smiles as she says hopefully, “Maybe one day in the future when I have a more stable budget and finances; maybe I can actually implement this program and build it.”