Hello everyone. My name is Sam Kinghorn and I’m a junior at Ball State University. I’m helping contribute to this blog in order to be an informative resource of the great outdoors. Along with me, my fellow contributors are Cole Van Lue, Cheyenne Headley, and Taylor Estep.

I’m writing this post so you, the reader, can get to know me a little better. Now, for some background. I was born and raised in Muncie, IN, in a family of four. I have one older brother named Noah that is two years older than me and is an alumnus of Ball State. I’m a graduate of Yorktown High School and played tennis and baseball there. I’m currently at Ball State University, studying Accounting and Philosophy. Nowadays my interests are running, cycling, and cooking. Right now, a big focus in my life is training for the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis this coming November.

Now you may be asking why I am starting a blog about the outdoors? Well, that’s because growing up I’ve always loved being outdoors, and still do to this day. For as long as I can remember my family has been going up to Lake Wawasee every weekend in summer. We spent the majority of our time outdoors, whether that be on the water or off. On any given weekend you could find us boating, wakeboarding, tubing, kayaking, or sailing.

Kayaking in Seattle

During middle school and high school, I spent the majority of my free time playing school baseball in the spring and travel baseball through the summer and fall. I spent a considerable amount of time outside on the baseball diamond. For fun, my friends and I went to the school tennis courts and played from the evening into the night.

Whistler, BC Canada ( I’m on the right)

Some of my favorite experiences and memories are from being outside. Trekking the arid canyons of Arizona, being consumed by the vast emptiness of the Grand Canyon, hearing the thunderous glacial calving in College Fjord Alaska, and standing in awe of the cascading waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest, are experiences you will only find nature. Through this blog I want to encourage people to get outside and hopefully share the same enjoyment I find from being out in nature. I also want to educate and inform people of the natural world, and all it can provide.

Hiking in Arizona ( I’m on the left)

Another reason I am starting this blog is to increase awareness of environmental concerns. Pollution and waste are relevant issues in today’s society, and it has a devastating impact on the environment. I believe it is an important subject to talk about because it affects everyone on the planet and the ecosystems around us.

For the next few weeks, we will be contributing informative content through blog posts, videos, podcasts, and live webinars. Since the outdoors is a broad subject, there will be a variety of topics that will peak everyone’s curiosity. We hope that you will find this website useful in your outdoor pursuits. Thank you for stopping by and stay tuned for more content to come.