Meet the Park Manager: Jesse Pasacreta

The Adventure Park would be nothing without our awesome and hard working team!  Here we get to know our Park Manager for The Adventure Park at Storrs, Jesse Pasacreta.

 

My favorite thing about working here is that I work in a place that brings people together through a common appreciation of the outdoors. That appreciation changed my life, and to provide that as a service to other people is just beyond incredible. Did I mention that I also get to climb trees all day and GET PAID FOR IT?

 

I started my road to Park Manager years ago as a Park Monitor here at Storrs! From the day I started my job here, not a single day has felt like work. I went to school for computer science and zigzagged through different office jobs, but nothing spoke to me like The Park did. After years of working my way up, I’m thrilled to have more and more opportunities to bring the joy and energy the park has given me to others.

 

 

That’s a no-brainer. Witch Hazel is the perfect difficulty level for me and has a handful of the best elements in the park. Have you seen the Tarzan rope into the big cargo net? How can you beat that?

 

I’ve always loved almost everything about the outdoors (I’ll never love mosquitos), and have learned a handful of incredible life lessons from that passion. I’ve learned the worth of protecting our outdoor spaces, how to nurture my health and mental health through outdoor activity, and I’ve learned that there’s more to modern life than sitting in front of a phone, tv, or computer screen. There’s nothing more important to me than providing a space where others can find that same passion for themselves and I feel so lucky that I get to do just that every day.

 

I spend most of my free time nowadays hiking with my dog and biking. It’s hard to find a ton of outdoor activities in a state as small as Connecticut but the Greenways and Rail Trails this place has to offer are out of this world. Now I just have to teach my dog how to ride a bike and I can spend all my free time on those trails. I’m still working on that one.

 

A few years back, a 9-year-old on a school trip kept freezing up before each element. She wanted more than anything to keep moving, but time after time, she said her legs just wouldn’t let her. After spending most of my day coaching her through almost every step, she completed her first course at the park just as her field trip was ending. Even though most of her friends had completed three or four courses in that time, she was smiling ear to ear, proud of what she had just accomplished. A few weeks later, she brought her entire family back to climb with her, and this time, everyone else was struggling just to keep up. I’m proud to work in a place that can bring an experience like that to people.