Tarleton Outdoor Pursuits travels to Mustang Island, Texas

BY MICAELA SULLIVAN

Associate Producer, Multimedia Journalist

Fall break at Tarleton State University is a time for students, faculty and staff to sit back and take a breather once school has hit the halfway mark of the semester. Some even got the opportunity to unwind with a four-day-long beach adventure. 

Tarleton Outdoor Pursuits is a program run by the Tarleton Recreation Center that takes trips through both the fall and spring semesters. This semester, for fall break, members of Outdoor Pursuits chose to go to Mustang Island, Texas. 

The trip itself was astonishing, including campgrounds with a five-minute walk from the ocean and a beach that spread for miles. Behind the great views, food and schedule were the Outdoor Pursuits staff who kept everything running smoothly. 

Outdoor Pursuits employs student workers who cook the meals each day, interact with the campers and help make sure everyone is safe while having fun. 

The one behind the trips is James Bessler, the Assistant Director of Outdoor Pursuits.

Before Bessler was an assistant director, he was a student at Tarleton, enrolling in 2015. He was also a professor for five years before taking on his current role. Bessler stayed at Tarleton for both his undergraduate and master's studies, and was also a graduate assistant for the communication studies department. 

In the summer of 2019, Bessler began work on the rock wall in the Rec Center as a climbing wall attendant for a kids camp.

“It was supposed to be the summer gig that I was doing that year,” Bessler said. “I like to call it the summer gig that never ended, because I’m still here.”

Bessler was introduced to the Outdoor Pursuits program and was eventually offered a position as the Outdoor Pursuits Coordinator prior to being offered the role of assistant director.

“I never thought I’d end up doing this,” Bessler said. “I was not really an outdoorsy kid, I thought I was going to keep going, get my PhD, become a professor and be involved in higher education in that capacity.”

Bessler has now worked as the assistant director for about two years and believes this is his career path. 

“I love it, I love getting to interact with students, I love getting to watch my staff develop and feeding all of our Tarleton Texans along the way,” Bessler said. 

“I really like where our program is compared to where it came from, and I like the trajectory we’re on,” Bessler continued. “We’re always trying to reach more students and get them more involved in outdoor recreation.”

Bessler concluded that this is where his career ought to be while on his second trip with Outdoor Pursuits to the Big Bend Ranch State Park for spring break. 

“It was a four-day, three-night canoe trip down the Rio Grande,” Bessler said. “It was treacherous to say the least. There were a couple of moments that felt a little squirrely, but after coming out on the other side of that, I realized that I have what it takes to do this.”

“That’s when I started talking to my boss about what a career in outdoor recreation would look like.”

Planning the trips takes careful time and consideration. 

“It’s all about the location, what opportunities that could grant us both for a fun perspective but also what students have to gain from a knowledge perspective,” Bessler said.

In the future, Bessler wants to continue taking students to new and exciting places in and out of the state, including places that he has never explored before. 

“Outdoor Pursuits, up to this point in my life, is my biggest accomplishment,” Besller said. “I’m really proud of how much our program has grown, but more importantly, how much we’ve invested in student development.”

“I get to take students not only on trips, but to conferences and alternative spring breaks, and give them the tools to be able to lead a trip how they want to lead it in a way that makes them come across as competent and professional.”

Bessler encourages students of all walks to take part in such a unique group Tarleton has to offer. 

“Just give it a shot, and you may find a whole new future for yourself,” Bessler said.

You can find information on the rock climbing wall, Outdoor Pursuits and more at https://www.tarleton.edu/campusrec/.