Dixon Center offers off-campus recreation activities

By Jen Wozniak
September 17, 2009

Shannon Keough

Cabrini students were met with clear skies and warm, sunny weather at the beach in Belmar, N.J. on Sunday, Sept. 13 for a fun day of surfing lessons offered by the Cabrini recreation department.

The beach was alive with the hustle and bustle of surfers and spectators for the Belmar Pro Surf Competition, which happened to be taking place at the same time.

While waiting to hit the waves, the students enjoyed festivities and live music and took advantage of watching the pro surfers in competition. The group later learned that their instructor, TJ Forkin, was not only participating in the competition but had advanced to the semifinals.

Forkin, who was the instructor for the first ever Cabrini surfing trip last September, later helped the ambitious surfers, who discovered that the ocean conditions were not as ideal as the weather.

“Surfing is a unique sport because conditions are constantly changing and affect your performance, unlike most sports,” Gina Mulranen, senior math secondary education major, said. “We saw pro surfers today but even they couldn’t perform to their best ability because of the conditions.”

Even though the surfers got a late start to the lessons and didn’t catch as many waves as they hoped, the day was in no way wasted. “Even though we didn’t get a perfect surfing day, it was really relaxing to lie out on the surf board in the ocean and the weather was perfect. It was a great beach day,” Mulranen said.

Orlin Jespersen, assistant director of recreation, said, “Last year there was more instruction and more chances to get up on the board, but it was nice to see all the action and the environment of the surfing competition.”

Surfing is just one of many opportunities that the recreation department has to offer. Jespersen encourages more students to get involved.

“All activities are discounted by 40 to 50 percent of what they would normally cost if you did the activity on your own, plus it’s a great opportunity to meet more people,” Jespersen said. “I try to make it easier for students to get involved or try something new, and if you have an interest in these activities you should try it now.”

Some activities are even free, such as rock climbing, which is offered every Wednesday night, and hiking trips. “The hiking trip coming up is supposed to be a really nice hike and have good views of the Delaware Water Gap,” Jespersen said.

Upcoming outdoor activities through the recreation department are sailing and windsurfing on Sunday, Sept. 27, whitewater rafting on Sunday, Oct. 4, hiking the Appalachia Trial on Sunday, Nov. 1 and paintball on Sunday, Nov. 15.

Pre-registration is required for all events, so be sure to sign up at the Dixon Center.

To sign up for surfing and wind surfing, contact Orlin Jespersen at orlinj@cabrini.edu or 610-225-3909 immediately. The registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 18 for whitewater rafting, and Friday, Oct. 30 for hiking the Appalachia Trail and paintball.

“Even though Cabrini is small, I think it’s great that they offer so many outdoor activities. It helps the people like me who study all during the week get outdoors and doing activities on the weekends,” Mulranen said.

“The students who came on the surfing trip today are seniors, so it’s a shame because who is going to come next year? We need to see more attendance from underclassmen,” Nick Pitts, senior English and communication major, said.

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Jen Wozniak

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