Freya Mayer - Summer Job __top__ -

"Normally, a supervisor does the high-risk checks," she explains. "But it was just me and two new hires. We had a booking of 30 people arriving in two hours."

By the end of the day, the tech team was not only safe but euphoric. Their team lead wrote a five-star review specifically naming Freya as "the calm, competent woman in the green helmet who made physics feel friendly." That review led to a contract. The tech firm hired West Coast Canopy to run a leadership retreat for its junior managers. Freya was asked to co-facilitate, earning a promotion to "Lead Field Trainer" for the final month of summer.

But it was a specific Tuesday in July that turned her summer job into a turning point. A thunderstorm had rolled through the North Shore the night before, forcing an emergency closure. When Freya arrived the next morning, the lead ranger was out sick. That left Freya—the senior-most guide on shift despite only having six weeks of experience—to perform the post-storm line inspection.

Freya didn’t spend her summer in a sleek downtown internship. Instead, she could be found at 6:45 every morning, keys jangling on a carabiner clip, unlocking the gates of West Coast Canopy Adventures —a high ropes and zip-lining course nestled in the old-growth forest of Lynn Headwaters.

For most university students, the summer job is a transactional affair: trade time for currency, endure the heat, and return to campus with a few extra dollars in your pocket. But for 21-year-old Freya Mayer, a junior majoring in Environmental Design at the University of British Columbia, this past summer became an accidental masterclass in leadership, logistics, and lateral thinking.

And sometimes, that bridge is made of rope, suspended 80 feet above a creek, swaying gently in the wind. Freya Mayer is a student at the University of British Columbia. West Coast Canopy Adventures will be hiring for the 2025 season beginning in March.