Quinnipiac University: In the shadow of Sleeping Giant

By Kalleen Rose Ozanic

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“I just like admiring my campus and like, ‘oh my gosh,’” senior psychology major Kairyn Jimenez said. “This is Quinnipiac, this is what everyone talks about.”

 

This, referring to Sleeping Giant State Park, is 1,465 acres of wide open space and natural attractions. 

 

“It has a reputation, like, people know about the Sleeping Giant hike,” Jimenez said.

 

Jimenez said that hiking the Giant can be a fun activity for Quinnipiac students and their loved ones. She herself has bonded with her family on the trail.

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Sarah Kosakowski, a sophomore in the entry-level master’s physician assistant program, has hiked with her family too.

 

“I have a twin brother who goes here and I know his room goes like…all the time,” She said. “I went with them like once or twice, they definitely go some crazy ways. It was nice to go with them and see which ways they go.”

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Sleeping Giant also brings friends together. 

 

“I hiked it once for my bio class, like in the fall semester,” Kosakowski said. “I went with two girls who I didn't even know and one of my other suitemates. So we got to meet them and we kind of went up together and like, as we were walking, we were just talking and getting to know each other and I'm still friends with them now.”

 

Kosakowski’s friend and fellow ELMPA sophomore, Lauren Merrill, agreed.

 

“I feel like it's like something you can do with a group of people, whether it be like really close friends or like a huge group,” Merrill said. “It's also like something that I feel brought me to the school. It was like a nice aspect of the school when I was looking at it, like touring and stuff.”

 

That’s no mistake. Quinnipiac University takes full advantage of its proximity to the state park.

 

Mount Carmel Campus is “nestled at the foot of the picturesque Sleeping Giant State Park,” according to the Quinnipiac University website.

 

Following Bobcat Weekend, an event “for all members of Quinnipiac to come together as one family and experience how QU is transforming into the University of the Future” on Sept. 16-18, the main page of the university website featured an image framing Sleeping Giant State Park in its background.

 

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With the Giant being right across the street from the Mount Carmel campus, students end up visiting.

 

“I just feel like it's a part of the Quinnipiac culture,” junior business management Dior Barnes said. “I definitely think it's a social bonding. I mean, they [the park] have the cliff jump. We could jump into the water. I did that my freshman year.”

While the park’s website doesn’t officially endorse cliff jumping, it does list activities

like hiking (of course), visiting the scenic vista and the lookout tower, stream fishing,

a nature trail, youth group camping and picnicking.

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These outdoor activities are highly beneficial for the mind and body. Time spent in nature

is often used in therapy and counseling services, according to therapist Daniel Zebrowski

in the book, “Nature Is Nurture: Counseling and the Natural World.”

 

One Scandinavian study found that “a group experience of regular monitored mountain

hiking, organized as an add-on therapy to usual care, is associated with an improvement

of hopelessness, depression, and suicide ideation in patients suffering from high-level

suicide risk.”’

 

Sixty percent of college students said they had reduced access to mental health

resources, according to nearly 19,000 students in a survey conducted by the

American College Health Association.

 

For stressed students, a hike on the Giant can be valuable. Merrill counts her time at
the park as a much-needed break.

 

“It's a nice little reward for the hard work,” she said, “Which I guess is something I need sometimes, because I'm always working hard.”