Lander, Wyo.—May 22, 2019—This summer, NOLS and the C5 Youth Association will celebrate the fifth year of their partnership to provide customized outdoor expeditions to hundreds of young leaders. With the mission to “inspire high-potential youth from risk-filled environments to pursue personal success,” C5 incorporates NOLS outdoor leadership courses as the third-year component of a five-year intensive program that includes year-round leadership mentoring, summer activities, community service, and overnight wilderness treks.

In January 2019, ten students enrolled in the University of Texas' Canfield Business Honors Program (BHP) participated in an eight-day backpacking expedition in Arizona’s Galiuro Mountains. Their top take-aways from this customized NOLS course ranged from building closer friendships with one other to the paradigm-shifting realization that “cold is a choice.”

In August 2018, nine students from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business backpacked through Wyoming’s Wind River Range on an eight-day NOLS Custom Education expedition. Students reported that participating in a guided leadership progression in the outdoors was a valuable complement to learning in a traditional classroom setting.

U.S. Naval Academy senior and NOLS Yukon grad Anne Richter was recently awarded the prestigious Marshall Scholarship in recognition of her outstanding academic achievement. An engineering major, Richter will pursue a master’s degree in additive manufacturing and advanced manufacturing at the University of Sheffield, U.K. before entering nuclear power school to train as a naval submariner.

Alison Wright, founder of the The Cairn Project, an organization dedicated to getting young women outdoors, reflects on her NOLS Executive Leadership Expedition in Wyoming’s Wind River Range. She left the mountains ready to put expedition behavior to use in the frontcountry—and with an even deeper sense of commitment to her organization's mission.

A part of Colorado’s growing refugee population, Muna Oweidat went backpacking for the first time on a NOLS expedition for MBA students. She says that nature is the “place I go to reenergize and connect with life, just like when I was a kid but with more freedom and attention.”

Florida native and self-identified city kid Reza Darvish recently joined 10 fellow Whitman College students on a week-long NOLS expedition in Utah's Canyonlands. For Reza, the trip was a transformative experience--the rapport he formed with his coursemates taught him important lessons in community-building and helped him successfully navigate the challenges of canyoneering for the first time.

This past March, 12 students from UVA’s Darden School of Business embarked on a six-day backpacking trip in Patagonia. Professor Bobby Parmar notes that while some students were initially hesitant, by the end of the course, they were ready to “go out into business with the confidence that they can succeed in even the most uncertain and difficult circumstances.”

This January, seven students in University of Texas’ Business Honors Program embarked on an eight-day customized NOLS expedition in Arizona. In addition to developing leadership skills and bonding as a group, their favorite memories of the trip include waking up to a surprise snowstorm and discovering that backcountry food can actually be pretty tasty.