Congratulations to our class of 2015! We are always impressed—but never surprised—at the remarkable colleges Adventure Treks students will soon be attending.
Below is the list of the colleges our students have chosen. We feel privileged and grateful to have been a topic of many of your college essays. We know that navigating through the college “sorting hat” has been difficult, and we want to applaud every one of you for all the hard work you have put into your successful high school careers.
We’re happy that our students have chosen schools that are a good fit for their personalities, abilities, and interests. We’d like to emphasize that what you will take away from your college experience has little to do with the prestige or rank of a given college, and everything to do with the mindset and attitude with which you approach your collegiate career. Success in college is about the effort poured into the experience, your desire to fuel your passions, the relationships formed with new friends and faculty, and your ability to thrive in new and sometimes ambiguous situations.
At a time when only 58 percent of students at four-year colleges graduate within six years, we’re proud that the graduation rate of Adventure Treks students remains consistently at 98 percent! We believe the resilience, social confidence, collaboration, and community mindset skills you’ve strengthened through your Adventure Treks experiences will help you thrive in college and in the world beyond.
Having talked to dozens of our graduates currently in college, here are some examples of how the Adventure Treks experience helped them prepare for college life:
“AT did a phenomenal job preparing me for the transition to college. I had the ability to adapt to new and changing situations. I knew how to meet friends and how to work with different kinds of people. I have seen many of my friends struggle with the transition, but it’s been easy for me.”
— Christopher, University of Richmond
“AT made me more comfortable in my skin; when I got to college, I didn’t have to try to be anybody but myself. It was refreshing and empowering.”
— Max, Stanford University
“At AT, you learn how to help out and look out for others, how to thrive when things aren’t easy, and how to see a bigger picture beyond yourself. AT gave me the confidence to lead a school organization my freshman year, and it means I am always the one doing more than my share in project groups.”
— Jake, University of Nevada, Reno
Here are the colleges many of our Adventure Treks students will be attending:
- Renee Hastings: University of Pennsylvania
- Chase Brown: Colorado College
- Matt Shepherd: Reed College, Washington University, or Northeastern University
- Mara Hoplamazian: Yale University or Gap Year
- Lilly Calman: Whitman College
- Bennett Hermann: Washington and Lee University
- Jeffrey Krasnow: University of Pennsylvania
- Sam Bartusek: Princeton University
- Isabel Licata: Scripps College
- Luke McGreivy: University of Vermont
- Kyle McGreivy: St Mary’s College
- Silas Crews: North Carolina State University
- Kendel Craig: Gap Year, than Oregon State University
- Vitaly Zaytseva: University of Toronto or Purdue University
- Lucas Gaylord: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Kristian Gaylord: Columbia University / Sciences PO, French Campus
- Dylan Plunkett: Temple University
- Max Binder: Muhlenberg College
- Hannah Haines: Skidmore College
- Caroline Purkey: Arizona State University – Honors Program
- Jonathan Micay: Ryerson University
- Samantha James: University of Alabama
- Isabel Licata: Scripps College
- Sidney Anderson: Appalachian State University
- Elizabeth Duniec: University of Delaware
- Kyle Hennings: University of Arkansas
- Hannah Proudman: University of Denver
- Danny Nelson: Tufts University
- Sara Hakala: California Maritime Academy
- Avery Coombe: Carleton College
- Justin Friedman: Washington University, St Louis
- Kaylin Lattimer: Grand Canyon University
- Peter Baumbacher: University of Michigan, University of California at Los Angeles, or University of California at Berkeley
- Nicholas Moy: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Patrick Callahan: University of St. Andrews in Scotland
- Dylan Torpey: St. Thomas Aquinas College
- Jack Hougaard: Boise State
- Nick Hougaard: Boise State
- Michael Bateman: University of Virginia – Jefferson Scholarship
- Adam Schwartz: University of Florida
- Dylan Butts: St Lawrence University or University of Vermont
- Noah Perron: Queens College
- Jacob Sage: University of Central Florida
- August Howell: University of Oregon
- Eleanor Palmer: Appalachian State University
- Sasha LeTourneau: Queen’s College
- Matt Friedland: University of Indiana
- Cole Pierce: University of Iowa
- Erin Reisman: Providence College
- Sophia Laroche: University of Michigan
- Michael Lowry: Brevard College
Congratulations! We will always be proud of you, and we sincerely thank you for your contributions to our Adventure Treks communities over the years. We hope you will bring the AT culture of kindness and your strong work ethic to college. This next phase will be a time of intellectual exploration, meaningful contribution, and wonderful new friends. We hope that the lessons you have learned at AT will be a source of strength when you encounter the inevitable challenges that are part of the college experience. Please continue to pursue outdoor activities in college; you might consider joining your school’s outdoor club. Time spent engaged in outdoor activities is a great way to meet like-minded folks, and a wonderful way to stay grounded and gain perspective as you navigate the exciting whirlwinds ahead.
Here is some recent research you might find interesting:
- Students who get to know professors are the ones most likely to rate their college experience the highest.
- The sense of connection one feels towards their college community is directly correlated with one’s graduation rate.
We are excited to see many of you on Leadership Summit this summer and gratified that so many of our former AT students currently in college will be working with us this summer as counselors at our Camp Pinnacle campus.