The perfect first stop for my gap year adventure.

I completed my Pioneer Project experience in the fall of 2013. I was 18 and had just graduated High School and I was looking to fill my life with adventure and purpose. Pioneer Project helped me find out who I was meant to be and completely overfilled my needs for adventure. Over 12 weeks I developed many new skills including wilderness skills, cooking, craftsmanship, and gardening. Additional I became a better leader, planner, learned to work with a team and work with others that shared completely different view points. The staff was super supportive and I am still in contact with many of them today. I made life long friendships during my time at Pioneer, and the location was perfect. The southern Appalachian Mountains are always beautiful. I enjoyed the area so much that I spent my first two years of Undergraduate at a college 15 minutes away. As some one still benefiting from the lessons learned at Pioneer almost 7 years ago, I would recommend this program to gap year students looking to find themselves and be themselves in a supportive environment