Caitlin McDade, a master’s degree student in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, has been awarded the 2024-25 Fletcher Graduate Scholarship by the North Carolina Recreation and Park Association<\/a>. The scholarship is awarded annually to full-time NC State students studying parks, recreation and leisure studies.<\/p>\n\n\n
I chose to pursue my master\u2019s in parks, recreation and tourism management because I wanted to further my education and do so in a field that would keep me involved with environmental sustainability. I love traveling and exploring natural spaces and want to do my part to help protect these spaces, while also encouraging and inspiring others to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n
I\u2019ve had so many amazing classes, and I love that many of them involve actually going out into parks. But my favorite would have to be PRT 595-005: Children and Nature. We spent a lot of time exploring local areas and learning about programs that focus on engaging youth and helping them develop connections with nature. As an overall course, this is probably the number one class I would recommend others to take if they have any interest in education and the outdoors. <\/p>\n\n\n
Ultimately, I want to be an educator. My current plan is to pursue a doctorate so I have the ability to teach higher education and continue research. As long as I\u2019m doing something that involves teaching and focuses on the environment in some way, shape or form, I\u2019ll be happy.<\/p>\n\n\n
The College of Natural Resources has really helped me explore courses that allow me to envision what I want to teach and research in the future, which I really appreciate. I also really love the courses offered. As someone who was new to the Raleigh area, I found that a lot of my courses helped me find more natural places around the area, which helped me connect to the area more. <\/p>\n\n\n
I think the best advice I could give to students entering my major is to find courses that align with your interests. There\u2019s so many options, both within Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and outside of it, and a lot of these courses can help you find cool programs and parks that you might not have learned about otherwise. Also, I think just trying to find clubs that sound fun and giving them a try is a great way to go. I found the Forestry Club because I missed axe throwing and did a quick Google search to see if there happened to be any throwing ranges on campus. I thought it was a reach, but we have a club that does that, and I can\u2019t wait to try other activities within the club too. There\u2019s so much to do on this campus. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management itself can keep you happy and busy, but if you feel like you\u2019re missing something, go and find it. It\u2019s definitely out there. <\/p>\n\n\n
Outside of my studies, I enjoy spending time outside. One of my favorite places is the U.S. National Whitewater Center near Charlotte. They\u2019ve got so many amazing activities, like a 100-foot drop, zip lining, rafting, climbing and so much more. Last year I tried whitewater stand up paddle boarding for the first time. I now have my own board, practice at the center frequently and have even done a few rivers like the Nantahala and the Hiwassee. It\u2019s so much fun and if anyone wants to try it they definitely should. You\u2019re going to fall but it\u2019s such a rush to make it over some rapids. <\/p>\n
This post was originally published<\/a> in College of Natural Resources News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"\n
Caitlin McDade, a master's degree student in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, has been awarded the 2024-25 Fletcher Graduate Scholarship by the North Carolina Recreation and Park Association<\/a>. The scholarship is awarded annually to full-time NC State students studying parks, recreation and leisure studies.<\/p>\n\n\n
I chose to pursue my master\u2019s in parks, recreation and tourism management because I wanted to further my education and do so in a field that would keep me involved with environmental sustainability. I love traveling and exploring natural spaces and want to do my part to help protect these spaces, while also encouraging and inspiring others to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n
I\u2019ve had so many amazing classes, and I love that many of them involve actually going out into parks. But my favorite would have to be PRT 595-005: Children and Nature. We spent a lot of time exploring local areas and learning about programs that focus on engaging youth and helping them develop connections with nature. As an overall course, this is probably the number one class I would recommend others to take if they have any interest in education and the outdoors. <\/p>\n\n\n
Ultimately, I want to be an educator. My current plan is to pursue a doctorate so I have the ability to teach higher education and continue research. As long as I\u2019m doing something that involves teaching and focuses on the environment in some way, shape or form, I\u2019ll be happy.<\/p>\n\n\n
The College of Natural Resources has really helped me explore courses that allow me to envision what I want to teach and research in the future, which I really appreciate. I also really love the courses offered. As someone who was new to the Raleigh area, I found that a lot of my courses helped me find more natural places around the area, which helped me connect to the area more. <\/p>\n\n\n
I think the best advice I could give to students entering my major is to find courses that align with your interests. There\u2019s so many options, both within Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and outside of it, and a lot of these courses can help you find cool programs and parks that you might not have learned about otherwise. Also, I think just trying to find clubs that sound fun and giving them a try is a great way to go. I found the Forestry Club because I missed axe throwing and did a quick Google search to see if there happened to be any throwing ranges on campus. I thought it was a reach, but we have a club that does that, and I can\u2019t wait to try other activities within the club too. There\u2019s so much to do on this campus. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management itself can keep you happy and busy, but if you feel like you\u2019re missing something, go and find it. It\u2019s definitely out there. <\/p>\n\n\n
Outside of my studies, I enjoy spending time outside. One of my favorite places is the U.S. National Whitewater Center near Charlotte. They\u2019ve got so many amazing activities, like a 100-foot drop, zip lining, rafting, climbing and so much more. Last year I tried whitewater stand up paddle boarding for the first time. I now have my own board, practice at the center frequently and have even done a few rivers like the Nantahala and the Hiwassee. It\u2019s so much fun and if anyone wants to try it they definitely should. You\u2019re going to fall but it\u2019s such a rush to make it over some rapids. <\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
McDade, who is pursuing a master’s degree in parks, recreation and tourism management, serves as a member of the Graduate Student Association and the Leave No Trace initiative at NC State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[138,148],"class_list":["post-21290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards-and-honors","category-graduate","tag-_from-newswire-collection-228","tag-_from-newswire-collection-325"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21290"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21667,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21290\/revisions\/21667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/prtm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}