Getting credit for kayaking

The word “kayak” comes from the Greenlandic word “qajaq.”

Nathaniel Apgar ’17 began kayaking at 18 months old, riding in the lap of his father.

So, when the chance to create his own intercultural experience to satisfy Messiah’s Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) credit arose, he went back to his roots.

Students can satisfy their ELI credit through a “career application” that is contextualized for an external audience relevant to the students’ future goals.

“The path to my passion and my degree field did not line up, so I asked my advisor if I could do anything to make them cross,” explained Apgar, an applied health science major.

He partnered with Qajaq USA, an organization that seeks to preserve the traditional culture of those living in the Artic. They needed an athlete to compete in the annual Greenland National Qajaq Championship and sent him a plane ticket. In July of 2017, he set off for Aasiaat, Greenland.

He spent four weeks competing in races and then kayaking the coast of Aasiaat—about 12-13 miles in diameter.

What’s he doing now?

Recently married, he and his wife spent their honeymoon hiking the Grand Canyon’s South Rim and other areas of Arizona.

He’s now in his third year of Messiah’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

“I’m on a clinical rotation in Harrisburg now, so I’ve been pretty busy,” he said.

He says he still tries to get on the water, in the woods and in the mountains as much as he can.

“Messiah gave me an awesome opportunity to purse my interests,” he said, “If you are thinking about an ELI or cross-cultural experience, do it! Sure, we all go to school to get a job, but don’t forget--as my poetry professor used to say--’Job is a Gallic word for lump.’ Take your lumps, but don’t forget to do something that makes you come alive!”

— Molly McKim ’23