They come in a wide variety of acronyms: BOLT, COOP, FOOT, TWO. They are counted by students everywhere as some of the most influential experiences upon entering college. They are the increasingly popular pre-orientation programs that send small groups of students on week-long trips of hiking, canoeing and cavorting through the woods. Similar programs are held by schools nationwide, and at Tufts this program is known fondly as "Wilderness."
At first glance, the word "wilderness" conjures up many different images: isolation, barbarians, rugged elements, expansive cliffs - none of which involve masses of people. The Tufts Wilderness Orientation (TWO) and similar programs across the country, however, have found a way to use the great outdoors to bring new students together and help them transition, "naturally," to the collegiate lifestyle.
"It's all about being comfortable with each other, comfortable with college and breaking down boundaries," said Chris Valente (LA '05), one of the coordinators for TWO 2005. A key part of the program, said co-coordinator Adina Allen (LA '05), is placing groups of students into unusual conditions so that they will be more likely to open up to each other.
"Some people come in with their designer jeans and makeup on, and they'll struggle, and then they'll end up making great friends with the people they're hiking with, just having a really good time," she said. "You learn a ton about yourself in a week without deodorant," Valente added.
Since TWO began in 1986, Wilderness has grown tremendously. Only around 24 freshmen enrolled in the program for its first three years; now, 200 freshmen participate annually, in addition to numerous leaders and support staff.
"When you think about the percentage of freshman who do it and compare that with total freshman, that's about a sixth of the freshmen," Ed Edson (LA '02) said. "So, it touches pretty much everybody on campus, and it's not too often that you see that."
Because of the nature of the Tufts program - it is run by an army of student leaders, support staff and coordinators - students who participate as freshmen have the opportunity to continue their involvement in TWO over the next three years, and those who did not do the pre-orientation program as freshmen can get involved later on.
"Once you get hooked, and most people are right off the bat, it can be a yearly thing," Valente said.
"It's made me much more open-minded...it just hits you in the face [with]: 'Welcome to college, this is awesome!'" senior Kyle Crossley said. Edson recalled meeting his girlfriend of five years while they were on the support staff together. Erik Meserve (LA '00), who was Edson's leader, helped out with TWO throughout his time at Tufts: he was support staff during his sophomore year, a leader during junior and senior years, and a coordinator after graduation.
"Each time was more fun and challenging than the last," said Meserve, who is now working on his master's in environmental engineering at UC-Berkeley.
Since spreading in the 1930s from Dartmouth College, wilderness orientations have taken on many different forms. Some are now targeted at older students - for example, the Brown Outdoor Leadership Training program (BOLT), which is designed for rising sophomores and takes place the August after their first year. The program begins with a shared wilderness experience in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and continues later into the year with activities on campus.
Other programs are a modified version of the full-blown camping experience. Yale recently created a program called Harvest, as an alternative to FOOT (its Freshman Outdoor Orientation Trips). In the new program, students have the option to live and work on small, local organic farms before the beginning of classes to get to know one another. They sleep in barns, rather than under tarps, and take one day off from farming to enjoy other activities in the surrounding area.
Other programs are more institutionalized within their respective schools. West Virginia University created a five-day orientation that is linked to an introductory course required of all first-year students. The students from the "Adventure West Virginia" program are then able to reconnect throughout the school year for classroom lectures, community service projects and recreational activities.
On Aug. 25, 2005 Tufts freshmen arrived on campus, and the Hill was dotted with small, yellow-shirted groups who were preparing to backpack in pirate gear, duct tape, and crazy hats, among other things. The next day, with help from 50 leaders and 30 support staff members, they embarked on their journey.
These students made 25 separate back-country trips fanning across the mountains in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. According to Biology Professor George Ellmore, the faculty coordinator for TWO, each trip averages 25 to 30 miles of trails - in sum, the Jumbos will be covering about 750 miles.
Junior Jen Crawford, a current Wilderness leader, made plans to meet up with another group while on the trail. "We're hiking up in Maine on the Appalachian Trail around Saddleback," she said before leaving on her trip. "It's supposed to be a really sweet hike, and another group is going to do our trip in reverse so we meet them in the middle."
"The thing I look forward to the most is the energy of wilderness. The whole staff is wicked psyched to be there, and it really is all about making sure the freshmen have as excellent a time as we did as freshmen," Crawford said.
In all, TWO has given many people a reason to look forward to August every year. "The freshfolk seem more excited to be coming to Tufts, and more parents are asking if we can run a wilderness trip for them," Ellmore said.
This infectious attitude drives the program forward, according to Valente. "It just goes," he said. "It has momentum. It would happen even without us, because people really want it to happen."
