Into the Wild

Surviving one's first year of college can be a challenging, albeit rewarding, journey. This year, seven freshmen got a jump start on honing their survival skills as participants in the college's inaugural Pathfinder Wilderness Experience.

Gathering a week before move-in day in August, these seven freshmen joined five Penn State Altoona student leaders and an instructor from campus ministries for six days of hiking, camping, team-building, and reflection in the neighboring Laurel Highlands. The experience was designed to be a pre-orientation trip to connect first- year students to the college and their fellow students.

After gathering on campus, the group traveled to the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail outside of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. According to James Whitacre, instructor and organizer of the program, each subsequent day included a four- to eight-mile hike with a different theme. Day one focused on community, the second on leadership, the third was about direction, and the fourth day tied it all together.

"When we talked about community," states Whitacre, "we tried to get them thinking about the fact that they are about to join this college community. So what will be their place and what does it mean to be a part of this community?"

"We also challenged them to think about what it means to be a leader in their community: must they be up front to be a leader or can they be a leader by being a part of the community in other ways," explains Whitacre.

The group also spent some time visioning. Notes Whitacre, "We tried to figure out how our visions affect the directions and decisions one makes. Our goal was to get them to understand that there are many opportunities in college that can lead to a great college experience, but there also are those that can lead to a not-so-great experience."

On the last day, the group talked about how these themes are interrelated and how each may affect their college experience. Before returning home, the students were left with solitude and journaling time to reflect on their experience in the woods.

But, stresses Whitacre, the trip also included a lot of fun—despite the rain. "It rained every day," notes Whitacre. "I've done trips like these before and, in my experience, rain can sometimes make or break a trip. In this case, I think it made it." He notes that nobody complained about the conditions and that their soggy plight added a note of humor and humility to the experience.

The menu, far from gourmet, included "Spam melts." "You don't typically eat Spam melts in the front country," states Whitacre. "I've had them at home and thought maybe it would be fun, but it just wasn't. There's just something about being in the back country that makes the food taste better."

When they arrived back on campus, ready to begin formal orientation activities and the start of the semester, Whitacre hoped that their time in the wilderness would ease their transition.

"The feedback from the students so far is great," he remarks. "One of the students said that already having a base of friends to talk to and hang out with made the transition to college life easier. When he got on campus, he felt like he had a head start; he knew the lay of the land, he had these friends, and he understood that he wasn't in high school anymore. It wasn't as much of a shock for him."

Jonathan Bednar was one of the freshmen on the trip. "The trip gave me time to reflect and decide what I wanted to achieve in life, and how I needed to orient myself in college in order to achieve my goals,"

Bednar states. "It also made the transition from life at home to college life a lot easier because it gave me a chance to meet people with the same interests as I have. I consider these people to be my closest friends at college, and I doubt that there has been a day that we have not interacted."