Alex Ruffins is an outdoor educator and artist. She attributes her walking strengths to being a New Yorker and her willingness to travel long distances to her upbringing deep in the borough of Queens. As an undergrad, interviewing for a student profile in the Adventure Education department newsletter, Alex was asked about her favorite part of spending time outdoors. She suspects  her answer, “getting a full night's sleep”, is the reason her profile was never published. As NOLS instructor, Alex is committed to disrupting her students' faith in the reality of wilderness, offering them existential dread to fill the void left in the absence of rugged individualism. As an outdoor educator, she wishes only to inspire others to enjoy the comedy of backpacking.