When someone decides they want to make a change, you have to be very open-minded about how they re going to do it, he says. I ve worked with obese populations, diseased populations and healthy athletes. They re all coming from and going to a different place. A big part of what we do here is experiential learning. I hate theoretical classes.
Experiential teaching costs a lot emotionally for the instructor and it s pretty exhausting.
But the students excel with it. They understand the concepts better when they can get out of the classroom and do things. I think the environment s a great teacher. It brings people out of their shells and lets them know there s tons of things they can do and do well. Fitzsimmons recently returned from a weekend river-rafting trip teaching students to be river guides.