A Wild and Wonderful Adventure (Rock Climbing Gap Semester)

Coming into HMI, I had no idea what to expect. I’d never rock climbed, spent a night in a tent or cooked for other people. I was also a bit nervous because I’d already done three years of college, and I knew most of the other students would be younger. But the experience was everything I could have asked for and more. We built an incredibly close community, got to experience so many amazing places and just had so much fun. I’d never laughed more in my life than I did over the 80 days in the program. I learned so much about functioning well in the outdoors and rock climbing. For those looking to develop their rock climbing skills, this is the program for you. We climbed in many top climbing destinations and were able to accommodate a wide range of skill levels. But overall, the highlight of the program for me was definitely the people. A big focus of the program is building a strong community, and we spent at least an hour each night talking about highlights and lowlights of the day and sharing our appreciation for others, among other things. I left the semester feeling quite sad to leave the group I’d developed a deep attachment to, but extremely proud of all the personal and community growth that had occurred during the semester.