The Coolest Classroom

Studying abroad is often the highlight of a student’s college years. Spending a semester in a far-away locale offers the chance for self-discovery and personal growth. Jeanne L. and Michael L. Klein Forty Acres Scholarship recipient Emily Slaughter stayed in the USA for her off-campus learning, but it was still a completely foreign experience.

Emily traveled 4,100 miles to Alaska for a wilderness medicine program offered by the National Outdoor Leadership School. “The point of the trip was to really push myself to get a new experience and take myself out of my comfort zone,” she says.

“I’m very thankful for people who donate to UT. Their gifts empower students to do cool things.”

During the 10-day course held in Talkeetna (population 1,055), the petite Fort Worth native learned how to assess vital signs and provide emergency care in the outdoors, and how to plan and execute emergency evacuations on a mountain covered in “a million feet of snow.”

Perhaps Emily won’t be called upon to use these abilities in her new career at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, but her experience will undoubtedly benefit her patients. The wilderness medicine course proved to Emily she has the courage and ability to make life-saving decisions quickly under stressful circumstances — like when a moose is charging at a group of cross-country skiers! — critical skills for a cardiovascular nurse.

“Without a scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to do this trip, so I’m very thankful for people who donate to UT,” says Emily. “Their gifts empower students to do cool things that mean the world to us.”