Help support Outward Bound's legacy as I run London!

When I stepped foot on a red and white dingy from a dock bearing the Outward Bound flag as a 16-year-old, it was my first time on a non-motorized boat of any sort and indeed the first time there wasn’t a captain driving and a ticket seller at the end of the dock. What was unstated in my application was that it was my first time in nature. Growing up in the sprawl of Los Angeles and Detroit to immigrant, working-class parents, we never had the ritual, experience, or wherewithal to hike, camp, or trek in nature. I started this trip because I wanted to learn about myself and challenge myself. I aimed to discover what type of leader and teammate I was. I was very privileged that my parents and a scholarship from anonymous yet generous supporters of US Outward Bound made it possible for me to test myself in such a situation.

On that boat, I met people I would have never interacted with elsewhere in my life to that point. Some opted for this trek under court orders, lest they serve time in juvenile detention, and some were using this to find the inner strength to overcome personal challenges, including drug dependency, bouts of depression, and self-harm, or, like me, feeling a little lost in their own skin. While I think I had the least pressing personal challenges, our differences faded away as we sailed across Penobscot Bay, hiked the trails of Acadia National Park, and climbed the old granite cliffs of Hurricane Island.

That trip, my first into the great outdoors, would forever change me. As I grew into adulthood, I still looked to trek outside—from El Camino de Santiago to the Inca Trail to Breakneck Ridge close to home.

My story is rooted in the specific experiences of Coastal Maine and the Hurricane Island Outward Bound. We were all American youth, yet my experiences share a common lineage with the young on the other side of the Atlantic, sharing a common bond with where Outward Bound was first founded. The self-reflection and lived experiences from that boat have served me well, helping shape my service and non-profit leadership. In his footsteps, I have also found a deep love for the Highlands, having trekked the West Highland Way and viewed the same beautiful geography that young people on OB-UK’s treks from Fort William.

I have been a beneficiary of others’ generosity toward Outward Bound and have personally grown from the legacy in which your organization was the seed. I want to contribute to the Outward Bound Trust because someone else’s contributions were shared with me.

Please help me raise money for Team OB as I run the 2025 London Marathon.