Winter Term at D&E has provided me with two life-changing experiences. First in 2006, the ENGL "Writing the Environment" class caused me to adjust both my academic minor, and my ultimate career goals as a student. My second outdoor experience through Winter Term served as a means of experience in the outdoor field as I took the RMTO "Outdoor Leadership Fieldwork" class. This experiential opportunity revealed leadership abilities within myself that I was completely unaware of and it gave me confidence - something I often tend to lack. One of my co-leaders, Steve Engle, gained similar experience from our trip: "You gain massive amounts of confidence when you succeed [in the outdoors]. Some people are natural leaders; others need to be forced into that situation in order to become a leader."