It seems you wanted to know a little more about me… how interesting. Well I’d be happy to help fill you in on who I am. Let’s start off with the basics; I’ve been going to OSRUI since 2003 as a day camper in Kallah and I haven’t looked back since. Camp turned me into who I am today; a college graduate of Winona State University with a double major in both business administration and recreation & tourism. Over the past year, I’ve used that degree to play outside and teach outdoor education all over the state of California. I teach primarily 5th-7th graders about human and natural history, flora and fauna, geology, and play team building and just plain fun games. The peripatetic life is the only one I know!!
In fact, OSRUI trusts my ability to recreate outside so much that it put me in charge of training the Mosh staff so that they can lead a lot of fun trips taking kids outdoors where they can experience Judaism in ways that a Sunday school classroom simply cannot teach. OSRUI has also put me in charge of Tour La’Agam, where I’ll have the opportunity to lead 17 high schoolers on the trip of their lives around Lake Michigan, which has kept me coming back year after year.
When I’m away in the backcountry, shaving can be time consuming and difficult, so I gradually start turning more in the mountain man that camp started all those years ago. Unfortunately, Jerry doesn’t see that as a positive development. And as such, took me to the barber shop to turn me into the classy looking adult that I am. It was very stressful, and I had to reward myself with frozen custard at Culvers, my favorite restaurant in the country. If there’s anything you need to know about me, It’s that I really like climbing, biking, and eating copious amounts of dairy products!
-Jesse Illian
