Adventure Media: A class like no other

By Madison Walker

During Spring Break, Jerod Foster, Ph.D., and his students traveled to Big Bend Ranch State Park to embark on a 100-mile bike ride through the Epic Loop Trail.

Along with Justin Keene, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media Industries in the College of Media & Communication, Foster developed the Adventure Media class at Texas Tech University. Offered as an honors class, the course places students in real situations in which they are tasked with creating content around the adventure they are on as if they were in the media industry.

Codi Clark, a sophomore Agriculture Communications major from East Texas, spoke about how unique and important this class is for external learning.

“Surviving off of what you have with you, that doesn’t happen in a classroom,” Clark said. “It’s not a thing.”

Ian Smith, a sophomore Creative Media Industries major from Austin, joined the class for a second time, this time assisting with the creating course work and helping the new bikers along the way.

“I feel like the whole thing is one big problem solving question,” Smith said, “and that’s what outdoor education is about.”

Hope Huneke, a senior Agricultural Communications major from Waxahachie, spoke about her time with the crew.

“We would be riding our bikes and then the next second we’d have to get off and pull out our camera in like point two seconds to get a good shot.”

Huneke explained how this class is important because it takes students out of the theoretical and puts them in the conceptual, showing them what it will be like to work in this field when they graduate.

Tanner Fowler, a sophomore Creative Media Industries major from Grapevine, explained how most of the students started the class not knowing anything about video or mountain biking.

“As we went along in the week, you can see them learning, and just getting better at it, and everyone came out of this a better biker, and just a better shooter,” Fowler said.

According to Smith, the bonding in the class is unlike any other class.

“We became a family because you rely on each other for everything”, Clark said.

Clark continued to explain how being someone who did not know how to ride a bike until August, would not have been able to accomplish this class if it were not for the people in it.

“Something I got out of this class, would definitely be self-discovery and really finding out like who I am and what I want to do with my life,” Huneke said.

Foweler explained how great Jerod Foster is about spreading his knowledge for the students.

“The first time in my life I saw Foster get emotional was over this class, and that just shows me how much he cared for this class, and how much effort he had put in it,” Fowler said.

Huneke explained she does not know how she did not know the people in the class prior to this semester because they have had such an impact on her.

Clark talked about how she had little experience in video production and her content improved by the end of the class.

“As long as you’re passionate about it, and you want to get it done and you set your mind to it, you can accomplish anything you want in this world”, Clark said.

Click here to learn more about the course.