Ep.01: Meet Your Hosts

In the first episode of Appalachian Outdoorosity we explain what the podcast is about and introduce you to our team. Melissa Weddell, Becki Battista and Joy James share a bit themselves as well as some stories about their time together in the outdoors.  

Transcript:

Melissa Weddell: Welcome to Outdoorosity, the get outside and keep going outside podcast, where we share Appalachian State stories to entertain, inspire, and inform listeners about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Each episode features a story with the goal to get you outside and keep you going outside to improve your overall wellness. Our goal is to promote Healthy Outdoor Play & Exercise across the lifespan or what we call HOPE.

Melissa Weddell: The HOPE Lab, where our purpose is to investigate the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise, and play on health, the environment, and human development, the vision of the HOPE Lab is to continue developing the scientific foundation for promoting and supporting outdoor physical activity, exercise, and play through interdisciplinary research. You can check us out online at hopelab.appstate.edu. My name is Melissa Weddell.

Melissa Weddell: Today, we are going to introduce your three hosts. But before we get started, we wanted to share with you some benefits of being in the outdoors. According to the American Public Health Association, people of all ages and ability enjoy higher levels of health and well-being when they have nature nearby in parks, gardens, green ways, naturalized school yards and playgrounds, and natural landscaping around homes and workplaces.

Melissa Weddell: Access to nature has been related to lower levels of mortality and illness, higher levels of outdoor physical activity, restoration from stress, and a greater sense of well-being and social capital. The integration of nature into towns and cities has secondary benefits that contribute to better health and more sustainable societies.

Melissa Weddell: Given the importance of contact with nature for well-being, the American Public Health Association and the HOPE Lab supports the protection and restoration of nature and the environment where people live, work, and play at every scale, from building sites to large regional park systems and ecologically sustainable rural areas. With that said, we would like to introduce ourselves as host. Joy James, would you like to go first?

Joy James: Yes. I am a professor of recreation management here at Appalachian State University. I teach a lot about how people spend time in the outdoors. I thought I'd share with you a little bit about how I came to love or realize the outdoors was a space that I wanted to be in. Imagine the possibilities within yourself and the outdoors, and then transferring it to daily life. And that's sort of like what Melissa was saying were some of the benefits. That's what happened to me as a young girl who was shy and lacked confidence.

Joy James: I was involved in Girl Scouts, which is already a nerdy thing to do, right? And a strike against me in the popular crowd. But I found I loved it because it was all about getting outdoors and I was learning backpacking and camping and having fun and goofing off and really making connections with the other girls. It was also something that my other classmates weren't doing. I could come back after a weekend and said, "I was learning disco," which has nothing to do with that outdoors.

Joy James: But I also could come back and say, "I went backpacking, or I went camping." One formidable experience for me was our troop went hiking to Mount LeConte Lodge, which is a lodge in the Smokeys near Gatlinburg when I was about 15 years old. This was kind of like a precursor to backpacking for me. We didn't have to bring a sleeping bag. We didn't have to bring cooking gear. The lodge provided food and a place for us to rest. All I had to do was just hike up there with a change of cl

Episode Transcript

(00:11):
Welcome to Outdoorosity, the get outside andkeep going outside podcast, where we share
Appalachian State stories to entertain, inspire,and inform listeners about living an active
outdoor lifestyle.

(00:31):
Each episode features a story with the goalto get you outside and keep you going outside
to improve your overall wellness.
Our goal is to promote Healthy Outdoor Play& Exercise across the lifespan or what we
call HOPE.
The HOPE Lab, where our purpose is to investigatethe role of outdoor physical activity, exercise,

(00:52):
and play on health, the environment, and humandevelopment, the vision of the HOPE Lab is
to continue developing the scientific foundationfor promoting and supporting outdoor physical
activity, exercise, and play through interdisciplinaryresearch.
You can check us out online at hopelab.appstate.edu.
My name is Melissa Weddell.

(01:13):
Today, we are going to introduce your threehosts.
But before we get started, we wanted to sharewith you some benefits of being in the outdoors.
According to the American Public Health Association,people of all ages and ability enjoy higher
levels of health and well-being when theyhave nature nearby in parks, gardens, green
ways, naturalized school yards and playgrounds,and natural landscaping around homes and workplaces.

(01:39):
Access to nature has been related to lowerlevels of mortality and illness, higher levels
of outdoor physical activity, restorationfrom stress, and a greater sense of well-being
and social capital.
The integration of nature into towns and citieshas secondary benefits that contribute to
better health and more sustainable societies.

(01:59):
Given the importance of contact with naturefor well-being, the American Public Health
Association and the HOPE Lab supports theprotection and restoration of nature and the
environment where people live, work, and playat every scale, from building sites to large
regional park systems and ecologically sustainablerural areas.
With that said, we would like to introduceourselves as host.

(02:22):
Joy James, would you like to go first?
Yes.
I am a professor of recreation managementhere at Appalachian State University.
I teach a lot about how people spend timein the outdoors.
I thought I'd share with you a little bitabout how I came to love or realize the outdoors
was a space that I wanted to be in.

(02:44):
Imagine the possibilities within yourselfand the outdoors, and then transferring it
to daily life.
And that's sort of like what Melissa was sayingwere some of the benefits.
That's what happened to me as a young girlwho was shy and lacked confidence.
I was involved in Girl Scouts, which is alreadya nerdy thing to do, right?
And a strike against me in the popular crowd.
But I found I loved it because it was allabout getting outdoors and I was learning

(03:07):
backpacking and camping and having fun andgoofing off and really making connections
with the other girls.
It was also something that my other classmatesweren't doing.
I could come back after a weekend and said,"I was learning disco," which has nothing
to do with that outdoors.
But I also could come back and say, "I wentbackpacking, or I went camping."

(03:27):
One formidable experience for me was our troopwent hiking to Mount LeConte Lodge, which
is a lodge in the Smokeys near Gatlinburgwhen I was about 15 years old.
This was kind of like a precursor to backpackingfor me.
We didn't have to bring a sleeping bag.
We didn't have to bring cooking gear.
The lodge provided food and a place for usto rest.
All I had to do was just hike up there witha change of clothes.

(03:50):
Also, it was unusual for me being from Georgia.
The elevation was about 6,593 feet.
And not having ever seen anything like thator hiked anything like that was a daunting
task that I wasn't quite sure I was capableof doing it.
I don't remember how many people were in thegroup, but what I do remember about the number

(04:11):
in our troop was we had three groups, a fastgroup, a medium group, and a slow group.
I was the only one that was in the mediumgroup, because I was not very fast and I wasn't
slow at the time, although my two friendshere would say I'm slow now.
At that time, I was a little more of a medium,and I could yo-yo between the two groups.
What would happen is I would be by myself,and then I would catch up to the fast group

(04:35):
and chat with them.
And then I would wait for the other groupwhile the fast group took off, and then talk
with the slow group, and then I would takeoff.
What I started to it was this sense of I didn'tmind being by myself in the woods, but I also
got to be social.
It was the best of both worlds.
I really loved it.
I was in nature and I could meet the physicalchallenge, while not necessarily taking away

(05:01):
from other people's experiences.
I was able to go at my own pace.
When I was hiking with the other groups, ifI did stay with them, I felt like I was being
supportive and I was growing comfortable withothers and making connections.
When we reached the lodge at the top, we metother interesting hikers who found it interesting
that this Girl Scout troop was hiking.

(05:22):
They also told stories about their personaladventures.
I just wanted more of that.
That's kind of a pinnacle experience for mewhere I realized I was capable.
I was also could be by myself, but I alsowas liked for who I was and what I brought
to the table and being supportive.
This adventure while little and not very bigin scope, it led to me becoming a camp counselor,

(05:48):
a bike tour guide.
I went on to be a park ranger, a sea kayakguide, and ultimately where I am today, sitting
here behind this microphone talking to youguys, a professor of recreation.
The outdoor has always given me confidencein life, which has translated into my professional
and personal success.
I have to say without the outdoors and therecreation activities I did in the past some

(06:12):
years, I would not be who I am today, confidentand adventurous.
Thank you, Joy.
We really appreciate you sharing that storyand all the people and students that clearly
you've impacted along the way.
I think what's great is that you've been ableto turn that into your full-time career.
We get to share that with students here atAppalachian State.

(06:34):
Up next, another researcher and host, Dr.Becki Battista.
Hi, thanks for the introduction.
My name is Becki Battista, and I am a professorin the department of health and exercise science.
My area really is around exercise.
If you've had a class with me or have anyvague knowledge of what I do, I'm all about

(06:57):
promoting physical activity.
When I think about the outdoors and why thisarea is really of interest to me, I think,
as I reflect back on it, it really goes backto I love sports.
I always have loved sports.
My parents were active.
My dad played softball.
My brother played soccer.
Sports were just a part of my life since probablyage five.

(07:20):
All the sports I did were always outside.
It was soccer.
I wanted to play football when I was little.
I mean, everything that you could imagineI wanted to try.
Because my dad was in the Air Force, we movedaround a lot.
When I think about where I'm really from,I am really from Delaware, but we lived in
Texas, and we lived in Virginia, and we livedin Alabama.
And in all of those places, I remember asa kid going back into the streams and trying

(07:45):
to catch tadpoles or going camping all thetime in Alabama.
We had a camper.
As a family, we joined a camping group.
We always went out on weekends in the Stateof Alabama, which there are some pretty phenomenal
camping places.
I remember one specifically that was arounda lake.
I loved going to that one particular campgroundbecause it was just...

(08:08):
You could ride bikes everywhere.
You could go swimming in the lake, and youcould go hiking on the trails, which my brother
and I did quite often.
But then we moved to Delaware when I was probably10 and Delaware, super small state, but Delaware
is along the coast.
I started to have friends that always wentdown to the beach.

(08:29):
And all of a sudden, the beach became likemy happy place.
It was just relaxing, the sound of the wave,just walking along the ocean.
I mean, it was really just a great place tobe.
I thought I always want to live near the beach.
Well, my life kind of changed a little bitwith all the education that I had.
I was a PE major, again, because I love sports,and I ended up moving to Colorado.

(08:55):
In Colorado, there's mountains.
And all of a sudden, I realized, these arepretty spectacular also.
I lived in Colorado at a time that I was bymyself.
I wasn't making a lot of money.
I was out of graduate school, and I wouldhave to do things on my own.
I'd go hiking.
I'd go running on the trails.

(09:15):
Just kind of learning how to navigate thatby yourself is a little bit of a challenge,
but it was so beautiful that I couldn't resist.
Everybody in Colorado always goes outside.
If you're not outside, it's strange.
After I moved from Colorado and I went tograduate school to get my PhD in growth and
motor development, from there, I learned afew things about Michigan.

(09:36):
The State of Michigan is also beautiful.
It had some great lakes and had some greatoutdoor adventures when I was in Michigan.
And then from Michigan, I moved to Wisconsin,and I think that's where I kind of brought
my childhood memories into my adult world,where I always loved being outside.
I loved playing sports.
In Wisconsin, I met a colleague who was aphysical education person and he was all about

(10:03):
outdoor education.
I was intrigued by this because Wisconsinalso has some beautiful outdoor areas and
I was always willing to kind of go up fora challenge.
He asked me one day if I wanted to go on atrip with some students to Colorado and go
rock climbing.
Well, who's going to pass up a trip to goto Colorado?

(10:24):
It was really at that time watching what hedid with those students and allowing me to
be a part of that which solidified my absolutelove of the outdoors and I think made me understand
that outdoors can be part of my research interest.
I love of being active.
I love being outside.

(10:45):
That time spent in Colorado seeing the students,graduate students and undergraduate students,
climb rocks, which was a challenge all withinitself, really kind of solidified why I think
the outdoors to me is a place of comfort.
It allows me to feel kind of whole again.

(11:07):
If I am stressed out, I'll go for a walk inthe woods.
All I have to do is just stand and look aroundand just the beauty of the trees and the sun
shining through the trees, it's just amazing.
For me, it's a way to get my physical activityand it's a way to kind of destress a little
bit.
I would not have known that if it wasn't forkind of participating in some research that

(11:29):
related back to physical education.
That's kind of my story.
Thank you, Becki.
Not only do you share this with your students,you have been one of the founding members
of the HOPE Lab, but you keep us all on aschedule.
We can find you out at Moses Cone runningon Saturday mornings, and you are very consistent

(11:51):
with your physical activity outdoors.
Always a great adventure partner.
Thank you both.
You've heard my voice from the beginning.
My name is Melissa Weddell.
I teach also in recreation management withDr. Joy James, but all of us are in the college
of health science.
We have packaged this together to talk aboutphysical activity and health and wellness

(12:15):
and in outdoors.
My story's a little bit different.
I'm originally from Northern Indiana.
I grew up on a large farm.
I did not realize at the time as a young girlall the access to outdoors that I had in my
comfort with the outdoors.
We were able to ride horses all around thecounty.

(12:37):
My grandparents had a lake cottage.
I wouldn't think about it in the terms thatyou would today as some really nice second
home.
They built it in the '60s.
We'd be at the lakes on the weekends and playingindoors just wasn't something that we did.
We also didn't have air conditioning in thesummer, so no one wanted to be inside.

(12:58):
I grew up hunting and fishing, and we wouldgo sit in the woods for hours in the fall.
And as a young girl, I didn't always likethat.
But later on, I realized how much I cherishedthat time.
That's really where I started to develop thislove of the outdoors.
In terms of camping and hiking and mountainbiking and all this stuff, we didn't really

(13:18):
do any of that.
We lived on so much land that that wasn'twhat we did for vacation.
That was kind of everyday life.
When I went away to graduate school, I metvarious people that started to do all of this
outdoor recreation.
I was able to get a mountain bike and startmountain biking in all these cool destinations.

(13:45):
I will say that it was very challenging andit was a new way to experience the outdoors.
And much like Becki talked about, it was areal place of restoration for me to not only
have the physical aspect, but to be in thesebeautiful surroundings.
Some of the takeaways that I've had have been...

(14:06):
I do love to be in the outdoors and suffer.
I like things to be hard.
It makes me...
If I have a really hard mountain bike ride,I forget whatever stress I had.
I'm physically challenging myself.
I also am one of those people that enjoy alittle thrill or an adrenaline rush.

(14:26):
When you're in your tent at night, if youhear something outside, if you know it's a
raccoon or maybe a buffalo or a bear or something,that's really exciting to me and hiking and
being part of that.
Those have been some of my experiences.
What I've also noticed is through the years,specifically with mountain biking or just

(14:51):
going camping, leading various women's groupsor inviting women to go on trips and introducing
other folks to the outdoors is extremely rewardingto me.
I really enjoy it.
I never considered myself to have a lot ofoutdoor skills, but through the years, I've
realized I just have a comfort that makesit easier for other people to go with me.

(15:15):
I really enjoy being dirty is what I've learned.
That's always been a little bit of a joke,but the outdoors is just such a great place.
I think as we look at the amount of time thatwe spend on technology, really highlighting
the importance of the outdoors and physicalactivity and getting out there is more imperative

(15:37):
now than ever.
As we kind of wrap up our first introductionof this podcast, I also wanted to share that
Joy, Becki and I have been friends for overa decade.
Some of us were friends before we came toApp State.
We've all been here together for probably11 years now.
One of our first trips together was goingto Alaska.

(15:59):
We spent two weeks in Alaska kind of travelingaround.
We spent about four days in Denali.
We have some really fun stories to share.
We often made peanut butter and jelly sandwichesevery morning at the campsite before we left.
A little known fact, Joy does not like peanutbutter, which we all still can't quite understand,

(16:21):
but we've allowed to work through that.
But in efficiency, as you will, someone said,"Well, why doesn't one person just make all
the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches forthat day so we could kind of divide our duties?"
I think what was so funny was that we allmade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches differently.
Some people didn't like the crust.

(16:42):
Some people like the peanut butter spreadall the way to the end.
Some people like their jelly in the middle.
Some people like it cut in fours.
That was just one of many jokes that we wereable to share.
Since then, of course, we have gone on numerousoutdoor adventures and pick different places.
Some close to home.
Some as far away as Alaska.

(17:03):
I think some of those real benefits for usis not only the physical activity and being
outside and adventuring are these lifelongfriendships that we make and the things that
we share with each other.
I know, Becki, you've pointed out, sometimesone person might be scared and the other person's
not scared.
You're like, okay, I feel like I have a littlemore confidence because I know Joy can do

(17:25):
this, and so I'm going to do it too, eventhough that makes me really, really nervous,
or I think all of us have good and bad days.
On our bad days, the friends we travel withand go outside with could be having a really
good day.
We're able to carry each other.
Those bonds and understanding each other reallykeep us together for lifelong friendships.

(17:47):
With that said in our introductions, reallythe impetus of this was to share our stories,
but then to start a journey of sharing otherfolk stories.
We know that people come to the Blue RidgeMountains, to the high country, to Boone,
mainly to be in the outdoors.
There's something very beautiful, very spiritual.

(18:10):
The mountains speak to us.
We have technology demands like never before.
We have this real nature deficit disorder.
How do we get out in the outdoors?
How do we highlight people that are doingit?
And in those experience, how are lives beingchanged on our campus?

(18:32):
We are going to have a series of speakersthat we are going to interview and share with
you stories from our university that we hopeinspire you.
I just want to thank Joy and Becki and allthe folks that are going to make this possible.
Again, the HOPE Lab, you can visit us at hopelab.appstate.eduto learn more.

(18:56):
Again, thank you for joining us.
Remember to get outside and keep going outsideand life begins at the end of your comfort
zone.