Stephanie Smith, BS
Admissions Counselor
Stephanie Climbed for a Worthy Cause this summer!
Stephanie started working in wilderness therapy in March 2008, after 10 years in the corporate world. Prior to that, she spent many years volunteering for organizations that worked in the outdoors with at-risk/ troubled youth because she knew this was her true passion. As much as she gave to this work, it gave her as many rewards, if not more, in return. But she wondered how she could make a living from it. When she lost her father in March 2006 to cancer, it was a harsh reminder how short life is and how little time we all have to live the life we want. It was time for a change. It took some sweat and tears but she eventually made the transition to wilderness therapy. From the start, she was hooked. She loved working outside, loved connecting with the students and she loved making a difference. She wanted to continue on that path.
In addition to continuing to work in wilderness therapy, Stephanie also wanted to be closer to her family. Her mother, brother and two nieces all live in Albuquerque, so Durango was the natural choice. She relishes being a daughter, sister and aunt. Proximity to her family was a big motivation for her coming to work at Open Sky as a field guide in September of 2008. In December, she became a senior field guide in the adolescent girls group, and eventually moving as a senior guide into the young adult group. In February of 2009, she was voted Field Guide of the Month.
Stephanie's other interests include any activities which challenge her to face her fears. In 2005, she started mountaineering as part of a benefit climb series raising money for Big City Mountaineers. She has successful summits on Mt. Hood (OR), Mt. Moran (WY), Mt. Shuksan (WA) and fell 800 ft short of a summit on Longs Peak (CO) because of avalanche danger. Check out her successful climb in 2010! She has also been swinging on the trapeze, bungee jumping off a bridge, falling upside down and backwards off a canyon swing, race car driving, gliding, parasailing, paragliding and have had a pilot’s lesson. She finds that her soul is also enriched by hiking, backpacking, yoga and meditation. She loves to push her limits and is always amazed at how much she learns in doing so. She finds that wilderness therapy is partly about pushing limits and pushing them to learn while being in a compassionate, supportive and understanding environment. The wilderness alone provides such a humbling experience, strips away societal pressures and allows students to really discover who they are, what they truly enjoy and why they make the choices they do. As a field guide, she was amazed and empowered by the changes she saw out there. And not just in the students, but in herself as well.
Leaving the field was a difficult choice for Stephanie because she truly enjoyed being in the heart of a student’s process. However, she knew she wanted to work more closely with the Open Sky families after working a handful of graduations, where she found a real joy in the interactions with the parents and found the experience to be quite meaningful. Lastly, she realized the importance of a more grounded schedule than the field guide schedule can often afford and to assist her in maintaining a balanced wellness plan. She credits Open Sky with teaching her the necessity of taking care of her entire being: mind, body, heart and soul. As Admissions Counselor, she hopes to bring her field guide experience in order to help Open Sky families.
