“At OA, I learned how to be a leader, through experiences ranging from leading a community meeting to encouraging a group of my exhausted peers to summit a mountain in the snow during our nine-day backpacking trek. I discovered that learning doesn’t have to take place in a classroom; I learned how to live with people I was with constantly, and how to deal with saying goodbye to them when the time came. I learned how incredible the natural world really is, and I developed a deep connection with the woods and wilderess in general.”