Since 1971, Proctor has understood something essential about building culture – immediately following registration day, Wilderness Orientation is the most effective way to start the school year and welcome new students into the Proctor community.

When I visited campus as Proctor’s Head of School-Elect last winter, I asked a group of Proctor students what experiences I needed to have if I wanted to truly understand the culture of this place. They didn’t hesitate: Wilderness Orientation.

The moment when families give their child a final hug and watch them walk into the Teddy Maloney ‘88 Rink with their Wilderness Orientation pack on their back is powerful. It represents the start of a partnership rooted in trust. 

Wilderness Orientation is hard. It challenges even the most experienced, rugged individuals because it asks us to live in close community with each other, to embrace our flaws, to appreciate our strengths, and to understand that any living community will have its natural ebbs and flows of energy and emotions. 

When we, as educators, seek to grow, learn, and evaluate the tools we use to climb out of the Learning Pit, we act as models for our students. Whether walking beside them on a trail in the White Mountains or seeking new knowledge, students learn to trust that we are all in this TOGETHER.

Our children are capable of so much more than we think they are. They are ready, even when we realize we might not be. Our job, right now, is to let them walk with their own confidence into that which awaits them while we stand, hand in hand with each other as parents, beaming with pride in who our children have become and anxiously waiting to see how the adults and Proctor community will shape them. 

It is in this moment of watching your child walk into their next big adventure that we have to remind each other that the letting go is even more important than the holding tight.

Creating lasting memories and cementing positive relationships are our bread and butter. It is the intentionality of setting high expectations during these opening days that allows us to move into a highly relational way of being from the get go.

Each year, our work is to keep Proctor’s culture, and mission, clearly in focus. We do the hard things because we believe in their impact on our community and their contribution to our culture. We prepare our bags, lace up our boots, pack our sleeping bags, and embark on the best, hardest five days of the year.