Mercer University students are trading books for boulders this semester during a new class offered by the Department of Physical Education. Adjunct Professor Paul Southerland is teaching 17 Bears how to indoor rock climb for the one credit-hour course.
Southerland, a retired software developer, has been rock climbing consistently for about seven years, an interest cultivated by his role as a Scoutmaster in his son’s Boy Scout troop. The local Boy Scout council needed a certified climbing coordinator for rappelling, rock climbing and challenge courses, prompting Southerland to complete the training. He has overseen those activities at the local Boy Scout camp ever since, in addition to his individual rock climbing.
Dr. Adam Keath, Mercer assistant professor of teacher education and head of physical education teacher education, has a son in Southerland’s Boy Scout troop. After the troop worked on an orienteering and land navigation badge, Dr. Keath asked Southerland to adapt those lessons into a college-level course, which Southerland taught in spring 2025.
Afterward, they brainstormed other potential novelty physical education courses, and the result was a beginner’s indoor rock climbing class. The students spend an hour and 45 minutes with Southerland at the Macon Rocks climbing gym every Tuesday.
Prior to the class, the students had visited a climbing gym only once or twice or never at all. So Southerland started his students on the ground with lessons on the basics, including what rock climbing is, the different disciplines of rock climbing, the etiquette of a climbing gym, the gear that’s needed and how it works, and the safety protocols. Establishing this foundational knowledge ensures that new climbers don’t start their journey with bad habits or incorrect practices, he said.
Since then, the class has focused on climbing technique. Students spend half of class climbing up the 30-foot wall and the other half bouldering, which is climbing without a harness on short walls. The former is about technique and endurance, while the latter is more strength intensive, Southerland said.
Students receive a full membership to Macon Rocks while they are enrolled in the course, meaning they can visit the facility any time to practice.
“They are having a good time with the class. I’ve had perfect attendance,” Southerland said. “I’ve got a lot of students who are coming in two or three times a week. At this point, I’ve got everybody very comfortable with most everything. They are progressing, doing harder and harder routes, and what I’m just doing is giving technical suggestions, pointing out things, and giving them challenges.”
Southerland said he has seen his students advance greatly in their capabilities and strength. Some of them were afraid to climb up even a few feet during the first class. Now, a few can climb routes as tough as the ones he does.
“Starting this class, I was definitely a little scared, given that I had never done something like this before,” said senior Prakriti Sapkota, a biomedical engineering major who signed up for the course after realizing she had fulfilled her other degree requirements. “I have really enjoyed the class because it’s refreshing after my heavy science classes. I can see myself getting the skills I’m learning, climbing, grabbing onto different holds.”
Sapkota said Southerland’s feedback during her climbs has been motivating and helpful. As she’s learned the techniques, she has seen herself progress from calculated foot placements to more instinctive, natural movements.
Rock climbing involves strength and cardio and moving the body in ways that not many other sports do, Sutherland said.
“It is very physical. It’s a full-body workout,” Southerland said. “It is also a very mental activity. You have to think about the route, how you’re going to place your feet, where you’re going to grab your holds, which ones you’re going to go for next. It keeps you sharp.”
Rock climbing also brings social and community aspects from which students benefit.
Southerland said his students often stand at the bottom of the wall for 10 to 15 minutes to discuss strategy before beginning their climbs, and they always offer each other encouragement.
“I think it’s a great sport, as long as you’re going slow with it, being careful with it, and have some good guidance with it,” Southerland said. “It’s just a full mind-body type of thing, and it’s very good socialization. The atmosphere in climbing gyms, it’s just very social, very friendly.”
Senior Haven Estabrook, a double-major in global health studies and statistics, enrolled in the course a week late after hearing a couple friends talk about how much fun it was. She said the class has given her the opportunity to try something she wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
“It’s been cool to see the progress,” she said. “I think I had sort of assumed that rock climbing was all about strength, but there really is so much technique and strategy you can learn to get better at it. In our class, a lot of us have become friends, so that has been fun too. We are able to really push each other to conquer different walls.”
Southerland said the beginner’s rock climbing course will most likely be offered again in the fall, as well as an advanced rock climbing class.
