As my paddle pulled the water away from my canoe, it took away all of my stress, too. On my left, I saw a family of turtles elegantly sitting on a bundle of sticks and branches by the riverside. On my right, a blue herring flew past. Behind me in the boat sat my partner, smiling and admiring the surroundings, looking almost completely at ease.
This sense of serenity has now been opened to the entire community. The Canoe Club, led by Cara McDonald ’28, Maelle McWhinney ’27, and Levi Lasser ’28, aims to make a fun hobby, adored by all the coheads, more accessible to CA students. “The purpose [of Canoe Club] is to create a space where people can have fun outdoors in boats and where you can learn new skills,” said McWhinney. Lasser, McWhinney, and McDonald do a great job of embracing this goal by creating an environment that is adaptable to what each person wants to do. If someone arrives ready to learn how to canoe, they will leave knowing how to canoe. If someone arrives looking to socialize with their friends, they will be able to do so.
Canoe Club has a bright future ahead of it, as McDonald, Lasser, and McWhinney are already making plans for the rest of the year. “In the future, we’re working towards, at some point, doing off-campus trips either to other rivers or lakes,” said Maelle McWhinney. “We’ll work towards…[the field trips] eventually by communicating a lot with student life and maybe an outdoors club collab,” McWhinney added.
However, the Canoe Club not only offers students a space to learn new skills and engage in a robust social environment, but it is also an outlet for stress that helps calm people down. “Canoeing for me at least is just super relaxing because it allows you to be out in nature, but it’s also something physical, and canoes are just immensely graceful, which brings its own sense of peace,” explained McWhinney. By drifting through the river, the coheads feel that they can almost let go of their problems in school and just focus on the present. Canoeing helps accomplish this by giving them something physical to focus on.
Overall, Canoe Club is a great way to bond with the CA community and also experience nature in a serene way