Shared Experiences and Definition of Self  

After 56 years of Wilderness Orientation, we have learned that adolescents are capable of so much more than we think they are. Their willingness to embrace the unknown and their tolerance for the uncomfortable far surpass ours as adults.

When Wilderness Orientation groups departed Monday morning, they did so with uncertain faces, but what we know is that each group will return with the following: a list of hardships overcome by the group, a dozen hilariously embarrassing stories that will evoke smiles for years to come, and strong, deep relationships formed that will serve as a foundation for the rest of each student’s Proctor journey.

It is through shared experiences that we collectively define ourselves as a community. We each have chapters of our story we are willing to put on public display – the outward identity we have curated based on who we believe we are – but it is through shared experiences like Wilderness Orientation that we allow the door to our whole self to be cracked open for those around us. As Orientation groups increasingly build depth of connection during their five days in the woods, and then later in advisories, dorms, classes, and teams, our students begin to share more of their story with those around them. Our collective community-wide definition of self grows with each conversation, each shared meal, and each peak conquered. 

Here’s what we need to constantly remind ourselves as parents: adolescents, and the communities they build, are designed to change. The students who arrived on campus on Registration Day are not the same who will come out of the woods with their Orientation groups on Friday morning. Likewise, the “Proctor” that exists right now is merely the launching point for the Proctor that will evolve over the course of the next nine months. That reality (our children evolving outside our immediate care) is both why families choose Proctor and why it can be so hard to say goodbye. The growth taking place on Wilderness Orientation is just the tip of the iceberg, as each academic class, night spent throwing a frisbee on the turf, game played, performance shared, or late-night conversation in the dorm shapes who we are and who we will become as both individuals and as a community. 

All of our families who dropped their students off on Sunday believe in Proctor’s mission. They believe in what we do and how we do it, even when it feels a bit scary. Our reassurance to families after 178 years of pursuing our mission is that when we are brave enough to let our students grow, they become brave enough to find themselves. 

As our Wilderness Orientation leaders are experiencing right now, young people (and school communities) are capable of so much more than we think they are. They are ready, even when we feel like we might not be, and our job is to simply reflect the confidence they are growing in themselves. 

Check out more photos from the Start of Year Events on Instagram!