Alumni Interview: Brandon Schoenfeld
At Adventure Treks, the impact of our trips and communities goes far beyond the trailhead. While students head home having made unforgettable memories with lifelong new friends, the most impactful value often reveals itself years later—in the confidence they carry, the careers they choose, and the kind of people they become. That’s why we love catching up with alumni: to celebrate what they’re doing now, and to highlight how their time at Adventure Treks has shaped shape their lives in meaningful and sometimes unexpected ways.
We hope these conversations not only showcase the ripple effect of outdoor adventures and power of community, but also the resilience, leadership, and important life skills that students carry with them long after their trips end.
Below, we chatted with Brandon Schoenfeld, who joined us for British Columbia Adventure in 2016, Ultimate Northwest in 2017, Alaska Expedition in 2018, and Leadership Summit in 2019. After having attended the University of Vermont, Brandon now works as an EMT and emergency medicine instructor.
Brandon, how did Adventure Treks shape the way you see the world today?
I think the most impactful change AT made to my world view was patience. Through the long waits for a sunset, longer days in the van, and even longer days on trail, I learned to appreciate the moment I was in across my four years with AT.
How did Adventure Treks influence your college application and career path in emergency services/medicine?
Adventure Treks played a major role in my decision because UVM was actually originally recommended to me by some AT instructors while I was on Ultimate Northwest, Alaska Expedition, and Leadership Summit. Then deciding to come to UVM was also in part influenced by the number of AT folks who were at or around the university.
I think my career path was in many ways guided by my time and experiences at AT. Early on, I became fascinated with the responses to the “emergencies” on my trips, from forgotten tent poles to dried up water sources to genuine medical evacuations. Though I think my WFA course on Leadership Summit really cemented my desire to get my EMT in undergrad, which ultimately set me on the path I am on today.
How have the relationships you made at AT lasted throughout the years? How have those influenced the way you connect with people today?
I still keep in regular contact with a few of my closest friends from AT, many of whom I later went on to work with at a traditional summer camp. About once a month, I connect with someone “random” from one of my trips when one of us realizes we are in the same place, or if one of us is reminded of the other, leading to a call. Yet, no matter how recently I may have talked to that person, be it a few days or over a year, we can jump right back in without missing a beat. AT fostered, and taught me to value and seek out, such a depth of connection between friends that many of the folks I spent my summers with feel more like family than summer friends.
Has Adventure Treks changed the way you approach discomfort or uncertainty?
Type 2 fun! AT made me so much more comfortable with discomfort. It was sort of a requirement with some backpacks being so wet from rain, or river crossings when we had to dry out our boots over the fire at night. But AT made me more than physically comfortable with discomfort, and the instructors fostered a space where we were supported and able to support each other in a way where we learned to embrace the joys and outcomes from discomfort.
Can you describe a moment when you overcame a particular challenge during one of your trips—and what it taught you?
It was the summit push of our Mount Adams backpack, and we were about halfway up Pikers Peak—the false summit—and I was completely out of gas. I didn’t want to be the person that turned the group around or caused us to slow down so I kept pushing, slowly falling from the middle of the group to our last member. My tripmate in that moment looked at me, quickly checked in, made an excuse for the group to take a break so I could catch my breath, and then told me that she would be with me every step of the way. And together, we slowly made our way up over the false summit and eventually onto the summit. Looking back on that moment, I can credit her kindness as what taught me to lean on my friends and that I don’t have to go at anything alone. Throughout my trips after that, AT constantly reaffirmed for me the value of the team and how to care for a community as family.
What do you wish more people knew about the impact of outdoor adventures like this?
It is more than just spending time outside… in reality, the actual hiking on a backpack or paddling on a kayak trip comprises very little of my memory. These adventures put you in places to challenge yourself and grow as a person while also being able to disconnect from the pressures of daily life. These two together lead to unforgettable conversations and moments of personal success, like climbing a mountain for the first time or staying up well past the sun has gone down laughing harder than you ever have before. All this while getting to spend time in unforgettable places that I would have otherwise never ventured into on my own.
What’s one Adventure Treks moment you’ll never forget?
I think the most memorable AT moment for me was, a little ironically, my last night in the backcountry on an AT trip. It was the last night of the Mount Olympus summit and backpack, and we were sitting along the Hoh River which connects Olympus to the Olympic Peninsula within Olympic National Park (my all-time favorite national park thanks to the time I spent there at AT), after coming back down the mountain and feeder trail from a successful summit attempt. While I am not sure exactly what we talked about, I do remember doing an early evening meeting while we ate dinner and then sitting in that circle talking and watching the daylight turn into a perfectly clear night sky. The evening was memorable for its beauty, but it was the familial warmth to the conversation that I can still remember today, as we sat and exchanged some of our favorite AT memories of previous trips and each other.
Why would you recommend AT to a teenager today?
AT provided me a space to grow into myself where I felt supported by my community and got to experience some of the most amazing places of the world all at the same time.
If you could say one thing to your instructor teams, what would it be?
Thank you—you all made the magic of our AT trips happen!
