Iwas a student at Western Colorado University in Gunnison when my professor told our class he had a message for anyone wanting to work as a seasonal in the outdoor industry after graduating.

His message was simple: “Get out of my classroom.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want us working as outdoor guides, trail crew leaders or ski bums. He wanted us to work as a seasonal, then come back to college when we were ready to value the economic stability of a degree.

“You don’t need a degree to be a guide,” he said. “A degree is so you can move into management after you burn out.” Most outdoor guides he knew burned out after five to seven years in the field, he said.

I took his advice and dropped out. It took me only three years to burn out.

It all started when I took a sabbatical between my juni

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