I chose Northland for its smaller class sizes and environmental curriculum at first. When I arrived, everything else about the school—professors’ expertise in their fields, campus location, and vested commitments to the surrounding communities—were solidified following the orientation trip.

I would say the best part of my Northland experience has been the lifelong friends I’ve made with students and alumni. I was introduced to whitewater paddling in Dr. Andre’s Wilderness Instructor Training course. Over the years since, I’ve spent countless weekends, expedition trips, and cross-country tours from Appalachia to the Frank Church Wilderness camping on riverbanks and BLM (US Bureau of Land Management) lands and moving downstream all day with groups entirely made up of Northland alumni.

My personal Northland experience has shaped my life in every way and has been a focal point of my career and civic engagements. After Northland, I’ve worked and applied my education in outdoor education, then manufacturing operations. I pursued a master’s degree where there was yet another Northland alum in the same program! For the last several years, I’ve enjoyed a challenging but rewarding career in renewable energy, currently working on grid decarbonization solutions at utility scale. I came to Northland as a non-traditional student, and I have a tough time imagining my life and career turning out this way if it wasn’t for my Northland experience. It’s only been ten years since graduation, and I’m excited to see what else happens because of the opportunity I had to attend Northland.