New Zealand Semester Grad & Gap Year Student Excels at Oberlin College
Photo by Vivian Merrill.
After her gap year, Semester in New Zealand grad Clare Tiedemann headed off to Oberlin College—where she recently broke the school record in the indoor 60-meter hurdles at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships. She says her dream job is working as a NOLS instructor.
“Q: You took a gap year before coming to Oberlin. What did you do?
A: I spent the first three months taking a NOLS course in New Zealand, which is the National Outdoor Leadership School. Basically we did really intense outdoor activities for three months. The first month I spent mountaineering on a glacier, which was 100 percent the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. There were many days where I thought I was going to die, but getting through that changed me as a person. The second month was sea kayaking, which was really cool because we got to see all the aquatic wildlife, like orca whales and stuff. Hiking was the last month, which was definitely the most fun because we were in really good shape at that point. It was super cool hiking up mountains with all my buddies…
Q: If you had to pick a dream job, what would it be?
A: I actually know. I really want to be a NOLS instructor, which is the program that I did in New Zealand. That is my ideal job because it’s super athletic, I’d get to be outside, and it has a focus on sustainability, which is something I’m really passionate about.”
