Throughout her time at PSU, Mayla Sumner has been a vital part of the Outdoor Program, which helps members of the PSU community spend time outdoors through guided trips, workshops and certificate programs, and affordable outdoor equipment rentals.
Her first year at PSU Mayla Sumner applied for a job with the equipment center through the Freshman Learners Acquiring Skills in Higher Education (FLASH) program. “I got the job, and I'm very, very happy that I did because it definitely shaped my whole college experience,” says Sumner. Her sophomore year, Sumner joined the Outdoor Program’s Wilderness Leadership Development (WiLD) internship program. She eventually advanced to becoming an assistant trip leader and is now the Trips and Outreach Student Coordinator for the Outdoor Program.
“I've come full circle,” she says. “Now I'm getting to work as a coordinator and help facilitate the trainings for our newest WiLD cohort. That has been really, really awesome.”
Being in a leadership position during a pandemic requires extra creativity. Sumner has risen to the occasion, helping to pivot the program to online trainings, such as Workshop Wednesdays, which have covered a variety of topics including Leave No Trace, trip planning and plant identification.
Sumner has also been dedicated to making sure that everyone feels welcome to participate in the Outdoor Program.
“DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] conversations are a core part of our WiLD program, it's really important to us,” she says. “Recently I've been focusing a lot on how colonization affects the outdoors because that's something I've also been focusing on in my coursework. It's been cool to take what I'm learning in my classes and try and apply it in our program.”
At the equipment center, she has made sure there is an inclusive range of wetsuit sizes available, and as a trip leader, she’s worked to make sure trips are accessible and inclusive. “We always ask if folks need accommodations on our trips,” she says. These accommodations have included wheelchair-accessible campsites and adaptive climbing trips.
With her love of the outdoors, Sumner originally thought she would be an environmental studies major. Then she discovered a passion for biology. “I found myself really gearing towards a closer study of different things,” she says. In fact, she’s loved so many of her biology courses—from botany to vertebrate zoology— that she’s had a hard time deciding what to focus on in her future career. “I don't quite know where I'm going to go with that,” she said. “But I'm excited to keep learning and deciding.”
What was your journey to PSU?
I grew up in Southern Oregon, in Ashland. I was always pretty interested in the outdoors and the environment. My senior year of high school I was able to take AP Environmental Science, and that was the moment I was like, “This is what I want to study.” Then I was looking at colleges. I wanted to be kind of close to home but also far enough away to get a new perspective. I really liked Portland and PSU gave me the best financial aid of any of my colleges that I applied for and that helped me a lot—that was really necessary for my ability to go to school—so I chose Portland State. I started as an environmental science major and ended up switching to biology.
What is your favorite memory of PSU?
There have been so many awesome trips because of the Outdoor Program and also field trips, which has been something I've really missed since we've gone to virtual schooling. Going to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone was my first really big trip with the Outdoor Program and I actually went as a participant. The trip was really fun and got me to apply for the WiLD (Wilderness Leadership Development) program. Another great thing about the Outdoor Program is I got so close with all the other trip leaders that we would do personal trips. I was able to summit Mount Adams with just a group of our staff, which was super awesome.
What would you like to share about navigating the pandemic while completing your degree?
To figure out what works for me, I had to try lots of different strategies. I figured out just recently that studying at home does not work for me so I've been going out to a cafe that has great outdoor seating. Or sometimes I'll go to the park because I have a hotspot on my phone. For me, being able to work in a place that's not my home, and being outside, helps me to focus and get a lot more done.
What are your goals post-graduation?
I will be working as a raft guide during the summer so that's my immediate next step. I'm in the process of applying for jobs for after that. I really want to get some experience in the field and start to figure out what I want to specialize in. I'm applying for lots of internships and positions. I also want to explore education more because I've really enjoyed that with the Outdoor Program. I want to spend time working for at least a couple years but then I would eventually like to return to grad school once I have a better focus on what I want to work on.
Other goals are to keep doing outside things — keep rafting and backpacking and doing all those activities I enjoy. If there's time between doing more career-related work. I would love to return to guiding and taking folks outside. That’s also very important to me.
What’s the best piece of advice you would give to future students?
Just try different things. I remember as a freshman being at Viking Days and seeing stuff about the Outdoor Program. I was like, “oh that sounds really cool, but I'm intimidated.” I didn't pursue it until I saw it through the FLASH program. I think pushing past the barrier of being intimidated about certain things is important. lf you're interested in it and you think that you could have a passion for it or you could do well in it, just try it out. Put yourself out there, apply for the job even if you don't think you're qualified. You never know, there are so many opportunities that will open, so many doors for you throughout your experience in college.