WSU alumna gets the job she has had her eye on since undergrad
Starting a job can be stressful. And if the job requires you to lead a group of students and chaperones through the Valleys of Utah on a backpacking trip, you would probably think it was a bad joke.
This is how Cambri Shanahan, the new WSU Vancouver recreation coordinator, spent her first week on the job. Shanahan started as an adventure facilitator at WSU Vancouver when she was an undergraduate student. “I worked for the two former recreation coordinators, Anthony Deringer and Julia Conrad, and pretty much had my eye on the job ever since,” Shanahan said.
As the new recreation coordinator, Shanahan is responsible for overseeing activities within the fitness center, recreation trip programming, the rental center located in the WSU Vancouver Annex and a variety of other tasks.
Before leaving for this year’s spring break backpacking trip, Shanahan reflected on a past university trip to Utah with previous recreation coordinator, Julia Conrad. “I have never seen a group of people bond so quickly and perfectly together,” Shanahan explained.
After Shanahan graduated from WSU Vancouver with a degree in human development, and experience as the Editor in Chief of the Salmon Creek Journal, she went to graduate school at University of Nebraska Omaha. There, she got her degree in physical health, recreation administration. “Being outside has always been a passion for me, now I get to do it for my job,” she said.
Shanahan returned to Clark County after she got her final degree. Born and raised in Longview, Washington, Shanahan explained, “It was a fun place to grow up, close to the river and Portland. It’s a place where I have deep friendships and lots of memories.”
With multiple mentors inspiring her throughout her academic journey, Shanahan said it is the students she works with who never cease to inspire her to be a better leader and mentor.
“I love seeing others succeed,” Shanahan said. Encouraging students to step out of their comfort zone, she added, “You learn a lot about yourself and how you can affect others when you do so.”
I’m going to travel the whole world, learn everything about it, and then write about it.