THOMASTON — Thirteen 12th graders completed the Trekkers Rites of Passage program, bringing closure to their six-year Trekkers experience and helping them move to the next phase of their life.

Trekkers' Program Manager Emily Carver, with the help of a team of dedicated volunteers, led 13 seniors on the five-day Rites of Passage Expedition starting on April 1. The expedition included a 36-hour wilderness solo at Stump Sprouts, a cross-country ski lodge and retreat center in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Students completed their solo in some punishing conditions, weathering 30 mph winds, brief whiteouts, and increasingly cold conditions. Each student camped alone while being asked to reflect on their high school years and Trekkers experience, as well as preparing mentally for life after high school. Students were given reflection topics and encouraged to journal, focusing on who they want to be in their lives moving forward. All 13 seniors, despite the weather conditions, completed their solos.

This program oftentimes provides the first opportunity for young adults to purposefully disengage from technology, family, and social life in order to focus their attention inward before a major life transition. Activities before and after the solo experience encouraged that reflection, focusing on goal setting and self-definition. A major component of this process of reflection was volunteer and mentor participation, with all volunteers having worked with this group of students in varying capacities for the last six years.

Reflecting on the expedition, Carver said in a news release, "The beauty of the Rites of Passage program is in giving a formal experience to kids to both mark and acknowledge all they have accomplished throughout high school. What makes it unique is using that formal experience to ask kids not what they want to do, but who they want to be when they get there. Few of us ever get the chance to take a time-out and ask that really important question. It's a truly powerful and incredible way to wrap up a six-year journey together."

The 12th-grade expedition is the final program in a student's Trekkers experience. This program is designed to help students focus on life beyond high school, giving them a greater understanding of how to make the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and from being fully dependent to completely independent.

For more information about Trekkers' Rites of Passage Expedition, please visit trekkers.org or call 207-594-5095.