Samantha "Sammie" Kapaun
Course Advisor, Instructor, & Dog Trainer
Corn fed and Iowa bred, Samantha’s heart was born a wandering one—always looking for the next big adventure. Graduating from Iowa State University with a degree in Spanish and a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Samantha spent a year designing electrical, plumbing, and heating and cooling systems for a regional hospital in Iowa before deciding to explore the world to discover her true passion in life. The path of discovery took Samantha from living and working in Iowa to living and working in Colorado, Peru, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Along the way she taught Spanish and English as a Second Language, advised students on studying and working abroad, developed study abroad curriculum, and more.
After taking a turn at what felt like hundreds of different jobs and roles, it became clear that Samantha’s real passion was people—listening to them, helping them experience the world, sharing experiences with them, and seeing their minds open to new perspectives. The stars quickly aligned and after the right conversation while working at a gap year fair, Samantha found the opportunity she needed to dive into her passion of people, Outward Bound.
Since joining the Outward Bound family in the Northwoods of Minnesota, Samantha has fallen in love with the challenge of the outdoors, working with students of all ages and backgrounds, learning about herself through others and the outdoors, and just enjoying her backyard—the Boundary Waters. At Voyageur Outward Bound School (VOBS), Samantha splits her year between course advising in the spring and summer, instructing in the summer and winter, and training sled dogs in the fall. If you ask her, the best place at VOBS is the dog yard, the best season to visit is winter, and the best thing she gets to say at work is "Ready dogs... Let's go!"