Abbie Morrissey

I work for a traveling, private high school as a teacher, coach, and mentor. I teach history, English, and life skills. We travel all over the world as a school doing classes and climbing every other day. We live together, cook meals, do workouts, play games, and send hard.

I am responsible for building up the next generation of climbing athletes who embody the values of our community. They learn how to manage their school work-load alongside an intense athletic curriculum while also building character, empathy, respect for culture, nature, and building their identities. We engage in service work at our crags and take on projects to impact each area where we play, in a positive way. These students will be the next care-takers, policymakers, and adventurers that push the limits of our sport and carry on our values with grace.

As a member of the first cohort, we were tasked with building the program and leaving a legacy. This involved intensely examining our own values and putting the emphasis on where we saw the most impact possible. I was able to take on many leadership roles with undergrads as a result. Most importantly for me, my Graduate Assistantship at the Outdoor Program set me up to be a mentor and supervisor for countless, budding outdoor professionals. Managing the rock gym on campus equipped me with all of the tools to succeed as a leader in this industry, from administration, delegation, teaching, and building systems and curriculum that could be passed on to an incredibly prepared and excited group of leaders. Not to mention all of the specific climbing-related, hands-on experience such as training, troubleshooting, route-setting, budgeting, and coaching. All of this played a role in developing me into the leader I am today at TCA.