NGU student experiences the fruits of her labor
Jazmyne Boozer, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of ngu.edu
It is every student’s dream to see their hard work in college pay off. From the countless hours of studying to the many tears of stress; it feels good to be rewarded for one’s endeavors. Madison Gregory, a senior and outdoor leadership major, is seeing her labor pay off; Gregory is now the leader of a junior climbing league at Climb Upstate.
Gregory started with the company six years ago in 2012. She initially had a passion for climbing and thought Climb Upstate would be a good start on her journey. She started off on the register and working birthday parties but soon felt God had placed on her heart that climbing and mentoring others how to rock climb was her calling. She decided North Greenville’s Outdoor Leadership major would be the best fit.
Gregory now watches kids grow physically, mentally and spiritually from her work. Her passion for climbing has expanded to a passion for teaching others. She attributes her leadership and coaching skills to the classes she has taken at North Greenville.
“I never saw myself leading a junior league” Gregory states. “College made me think about a career in this [climbing] field. The schooling complimented my work.”
At Climb Upstate, Gregory is utilizing the leadership skills and techniques with her junior league on a regular basis. Since Gregory started working there, Climb Upstate has now expanded to teaching a junior league thanks to her. Gregory now teaches five different junior climbing leagues. She loves watching the juniors learn the fundamentals of climbing and coming out of their shells.
“The most rewarding thing” she states, “is getting to see how big the climbing community has grown. And getting to see how the lives of these children are being changed through climbing.”
Gregory hopes to not only build great climbers, but well-rounded people as well. For her, climbing is just the start into molding physically and spiritually whole juniors.
