“Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable”: Adolescent Girls’ Experiences of an Extended Outdoor Adventure Program

Abstract

This study examined the impacts of long-term exposure of outdoor adventure programming (OAP) for adolescent girls. This qualitative study shares the stories of the 8th grade students at the French Broad River Academy for girls, which is a private middle school that integrates OAP into its curricula located in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. Students reflected on what OAP has meant to them during their 2.5 years at the school. Photo-elicitation methods were used to capture these experiences. Girls took pictures of their outdoor experiences over the course of their final semester and then used these pictures as a prompt to tell their stories during focus group interviews. Emergent themes from the focus group interviews included: Relationship & Community, Perseverance & Resiliency, Enjoyment & Finding Beauty in Nature, Leadership & Confidence, and Individual Growth. This study indicates that adolescent girls’ participation in OAP can build self-confidence, increasing their likelihood of a bright future.