Each incoming freshman class boasts hundreds of former high school class presidents, community service leaders and yearbook and newspaper editors. But with more than 250 clubs and organizations at GW, assuming a leadership position in a student organization can seem like a daunting task for a freshman.

But sophomore Audrey Kruse proved it can be done. After a year at GW, she has accepted a top position in the outdoors club, GW TRAILS, and will be president of the women’s club ultimate frisbee team.

“It seemed overwhelming at first, but I just jumped into what I found interesting,” Kruse said.

Kruse navigated through the pool of opportunities at GW to find programs that suited her interests. She discovered the GW TRAILS program after attending Project Exploration, a white water rafting trip held for freshmen the week before move-in.

GW TRAILS is an outdoor recreational and educational program that emphasizes healthy living and learning through outdoor activities. The club was founded last year by undergraduate Aviva Flowerman, who graduated in May.

Kruse said she learned about TRAILS while at Project Exploration, where Flowerman was a student coordinator, and decided to become an active member in the organization.

“This was its first year so it wasn’t all that active because we didn’t really get it going until the second semester,” Kruse said.

Some of last year’s activities included ski trips during January and February and a white water rafting excursion in April.

“My big highlight was when I went to Tennessee for the spring break week,” Kruse said.

GW TRAILS co-sponsored a five-day event with Alternative Spring Break. Kruse said the trip was divided into three days of backpacking and two days of trail maintenance, in which she cleared trails with park rangers and performed other tasks.

Kruse applied in the spring to be a service co-leader for TRAILS for the 2003 school year, in which she will plan trips with other leaders.

“Every trip has to have two leaders on it, and I’m one of them. We are required to lead (at least) one a semester,” Kruse said.

Kruse said she, along with her co-leaders, will organize all aspects of the trips, including transportation, food, equipment and ensuring that everyone stays safe and has fun.

Before spring semester ended, Kruse and the other new leaders attended a “planning and playing” weekend at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

“It was basically retreat weekend for TRAILS to organize the events for next year,” she said.

Although nothing has been finalized, Kruse said next year’s bigger plans include kayaking on the Potomac River, a hike led by a geology professor through Virginia or Maryland to discuss rock formation and a camping trip to Assateague Island, a Maryland beach that is home to wild horses.

In addition to GW TRAILS, Kruse also is the president of the women’s club ultimate frisbee team, which practices three days a week and travels to games and tournaments to face other colleges.

“Time management was something I had to maybe struggle with, but I worked it out,” she said. “You have to learn to manage your free time in between classes, especially when you play a sport that travels on weekends.”

She described her team duties as “administrative” because she works with the captains to organize dues, schedule games and practices and order uniforms.

Kruse said she is excited to return to campus this fall and begin her new leadership positions.

“I set out to get involved and try new things, and I think I did that with TRAILS and ultimate frisbee.”

Students interested in joining GW TRAILS can e-mail Jeremiah Davis at [email protected]. For more information on club ultimate frisbee, contact co-captain Lauren Balog at [email protected].

-Andrea Nurko contributed to this report.