The Faces of OLLI [4]: Meet Rachel Oeschger

 

[Photo credit: Rachel Oeschger]

 

The Faces of OLLI [4]: Meet Rachel Oeschger

[by Alan Sturrock, Blogger]

   

   Prior to moving to the Wilmington area, I lived and grew up in the SF Bay Area. That was some 20 years ago. After college, my husband and I owned an independent bookstore, where we did events, newsletters, and put poets up on our couch :-) When it was no longer easy to keep that little shop open, I went to work as the Production Manager for O’Neill, a surf and outdoor brand. I moved to NC with my husband to be close to family and to start one of our own.

    I first learned about the OLLI foundation from my mother-in-law, Florence Nash, who was very involved with Duke’s OLLI program. When I saw that our UNCW-OLLI was hiring for the Outdoor and Active program, I jumped at the opportunity. I began working at OLLI [UNCW] in August 2024. Our leadership team works together to create programs that bring pure joy and the love of learning to our community, and now I’m happy to be a part of it. The Outdoor and Active program is so closely tied to my personal passions, such as kayaking, cooking, surfing, yoga, etc., and I can’t believe this position wasn’t custom-made for me!

   The programs offered at OLLI are wide-ranging, so it’s pretty challenging to come up with ideas for improvement. I am proud of my involvement in bringing Joel K. Bourne Jr., an environmental journalist and contributing writer for National Geographic, to the campus for his discussion on food challenges and the search for a sustainable future. I am also thrilled to have recently connected OLLI members with James and Sarah Doss, owners of Rx Chicken and Waffles, at the tasting event where members were able to learn about the amazing work the couple is doing locally to provide sustainable, farm to table food to our community.

   Outdoor/Active Program manager Susan Williams and I often discuss how much we would love to create OLLI learning retreats. These could be offsite, multi-day excursions for the purpose of expanding on current programs such as walking tours- [where we learn about the history of the area we are in]- or wine society- [where we learn about wine origins and complexity]. Another idea for future sessions—a self-serving one[!!]—is fly fishing lessons…I don’t quite know how to implement such a class, but boy that would be fun!