Holly Lynn never wanted to leave camp.
“When I was a young day camp camper, I think I was 8 or 9, they did a little event where they had everyone fill out what they wanted to be when they grew up,” said Lynn, who recently joined the Temple University Ambler team as the new Manager of Experiential Learning. “That was my first summer at a camp and I absolutely loved it, so much in fact that I wrote on that white board that I wanted to be a camp counselor. I was definitely an explore the woods, play in the cornfield, make friends with bugs and squirrels kind of kid.”
Later in high school when Lynn was engaging in leadership opportunities, conferences and retreats, “I had more chances to engage in experiences with low ropes and challenge courses and knew that this was what I wanted to do, but at the time didn’t really know I could pursue it as a career.”
“When I went to college I started as an international studies major and then switched to an international business major — within the first semester, I realized that just wasn’t for me. One of my classes in my minor was leadership studies,” she said. “I talked to my professor about how this was what I wanted to do — I wanted to play the games, have the fun, teach the theory and see people’s light bulbs go off. He told me to keep studying it, keep teaching it, keep having the experiences; go out and grow and learn and help others do that. That’s when I realized that I could keep making my life and the life of others like camp — that atmosphere of fun, exploration, self-discovery and experiential learning.”
According to Kevin Orangers, Deputy Director of Temple University Ambler, Lynn is “stepping into the critical role previously held by Dr. Steve Sassaman, helping to elevate the Ambler Campus as the hub for outdoor experiential education and wellness at Temple.”
“Holly arrives at Temple Ambler with outstanding experience in immersive outdoor education programming and will lead our Low Ropes Challenge Course programming,” he said. “She will additionally collaborate with the Events and Facility Rentals and Student Services teams on initiatives focused on experiential learning, outdoor recreation and team building for Temple students, student organizations, University administration, pre-college youth and external partners.”
According to Lynn, one of her primary goals as the Manager of Experiential Learning is ensuring that outdoor experiential initiatives are accessible for everyone, “meeting people where they are and ensuring that whatever goals they might have when investing their time in these experiences is worthwhile and meaningful.”
“There is a great deal of value in the healing aspects of being outdoors, the reinvigorating and rejuvenating feelings that being in a natural setting gives us, especially for individuals who may not typically or as easily have access to those spaces,” she said.
One of the biggest passions in her career, Lynn said, is “opening up those spaces for participants, especially those who maybe come from historically marginalized communities.”
“I’ve worked in spaces where participants have gotten off the bus and felt that because of the color of their skin or their background seeing the cabins in the middle of the woods meant that it was not a safe place for them,” she said. “It is a big deal for me to expose individuals to the beauty of nature where I found so much growth and the way that it can be different and new and exciting and interesting. That’s the importance of the outdoor education part — there is so much to learn, so much we don’t know, so much to explore.”
Experientially, Lynn said, “there is so much preconception with low ropes and challenge courses.”
“A lot of people think you have to be physically fit and not afraid of heights and you have to be an athlete to go through any of these course elements. That’s really not what it’s about,” she said. “It’s much more about whatever the individual and the group goals are and then being flexible and changing that on the fly to see where the experience itself leads you.”
Lynn arrives at Temple University Ambler with more than a decade of experience in outdoor education, experiential learning initiatives and nonprofit management. Most recently, she was the Camp Director for YMCA Camp Al-Gon-Quian (AGQ) in Ann Arbor, MI, where she oversaw the short- and long-term operational plans for the camp, coordinated staff training and community building, and directly supervised the operational team.
Prior to her time at Camp AGQ, she was the Program Manager and Summer Bridge Coordinator for the Princeton-Blairstown Center in Hardwick, NJ, from 2021 to 2023 where she planned, coordinated, supported and evaluated day and overnight experiential based programs.
From 2017 to 2020, she took her desire to create valuable experiential learning programs for students in Vonihovo and Vynohradiv, Ukraine, where she was a Youth Development Specialist with the Peace Corps. Lynn directed summer camps for Ukrainian youth ages 6 to 23 focused on leadership skills and personal development. She also led trainings and seminars for Ukrainian youth, youth workers and educators.
“I served as a youth development volunteer primarily in the Zakarpattia region in Western Ukraine in two different villages. In both of those villages I was working with youth development organizations and regional government organizations to develop trainings for youth development workers,” she said. “The training might focus on English learning, life skills, social and emotional development, 21st century skills. Other programs focused on teambuilding and conflict resolution.”
Much of her previous experience, Lynn said, has taught her “a real ability to pivot and be flexible.”
“What I like to have is the bones of a process or a structure so that when something unexpected happens we can change course while still moving toward our goals. A lot of that is based on my experience out in the field both in the United States and abroad,” she said. “When I applied to work at Temple University Ambler, I wanted to focus more on natural wellness and experiential learning — I feel as though the outcomes that you get from these experiences are best gleaned when there is that focus.”
With these experiential programs, Lynn said, “debrief is essential to get the most out of it — you have to ask the questions that lead participants to reflect on ‘what happened, so what and now what.’”
“It’s great if your team won the race, balanced the ball, crossed the rings. It’s even better if you understand why, and your why might be completely different from the team who did it last week,” she said. “Your what or now what might be different if you do it again tomorrow or next year. In my experience, those conversations illuminate the real growth for individuals in these spaces.”
As Manager of Experiential Learning Lynn will be working with campus partners, such as the Ambler Arboretum and the Temple Ambler Field Station, collaborating on “educational programming and continuing to strengthen relationships across the University, particularly in academic areas related to recreation and outdoor wellness,” said Orangers.
“Holly will serve as Temple Ambler’s liaison for Temple University Campus Recreation, the Kinesiology Physical Activity Program (KPAP), Temple University Athletics, and the Wellness Resource Center, fostering collaboration and communication among related departments and promoting academic uses of the campus facilities,” he said. “She will lead the facilitation and continued development of new Temple University student orientation programs focusing on outdoor health and wellness and provide leadership for major campus events related to outdoor education and wellness including the Temple Ambler Campout, Wellness Day and Temple Bike Tour.”
Having the opportunity to continue to develop and grow Temple’s experiential learning programs, Lynn said, is something that interested her most about her new role at Temple Ambler.
“Really delving into the fine details of what can make these programs successful and then piggybacking all it into the beauty and resources of the Arboretum — the beauty of the nature around us and the therapeutic benefits that can bring — that’s a very exciting aspect of this role,” she said. “I’m more excited for this job than any other job I can remember because I can see every day how excited everyone else is to be working with each other — the way they talk about each other and to each other shows deep kindness and respect. That truly spoke to the environment I was looking for.”
For students and other members of the Temple community, “I hope that they have fun in the programs we’ll be offering, try something new and see, hear and smell something new in this natural setting,” Lynn said.
“I hope they feel something new as well, that they feel something surprising,” she said. “I think everyone will have their own takeaways from these experiences. I hope they make these programs their own.”