Last month, on June 4th, Trekkers celebrated with this year's 22 graduating seniors. Team Patagonia and Team North Face came together at Watts Hall in Thomaston for their Trekkers graduation ceremony to reminisce, reflect, and, of course, laugh about their six-year experience in Trekkers youth mentoring program.

This was a moment that I had been waiting for since Team Patagonia returned this past spring from their 12th grade Rites of Passage expedition. I have been fortunate enough to be a leader for Team Patagonia since they were 8th graders. To be able to witness the Team's growth together, and as individuals, has been one of the most inspiring parts of my adult life.

As is Trekkers custom, the graduating students, their families, and their leaders all get together to take a joke-filled jaunt down memory lane. The Program Managers from Team Patagonia and Team North Face, Hannah Tannebring and Alaina Ennamorati, respectively, had the opportunity to shed light upon the quirkiness of both teams, giving each student a fitting "superlative" that reflected an element of their character. On the exterior, the Trekkers graduation ceremony serves as a way for volunteer leaders and Program Managers to "get back" at the students for all the times they made us question our sanity throughout the years. Albeit, due to the kind nature of both Hannah and Alaina, the roast ended up being more complimentary than any sort of mockery, which I believe tends to be the usual theme of Trekker's graduations.

This meaningful event is the final opportunity for a Trekkers team to come together as students before they graduate from Trekkers and high school. We all sit together, telling jokes and reminiscing. The roasts are always about stories or themes that have cropped up over the six years these teams have spent together. There are references from the 8th trip and the 12th grade trip alike, experiences that can only form by being on a bus for days with the same group of people, none of which have seen the likes of a shower in quite some time.

Parents, who have no doubt heard a myriad of different stories throughout the years, get an insider's view of the laughter and memories that have come to bind their child's Trekker team together. They are presented with a glimpse of what it was like to be a Trekker on Team North Face or Team Patagonia over these past six years. Also on display is the personal growth of each individual student and his or her team.

As a student leader, and now an alumni leader, my intention was to play a supporting role in these student's lives. Beyond that, I can see that Team Patagonia came together as a whole -- to all of them becoming each other's cheerleaders. As each student heads down varying roads in their lives, they know in their hearts that they are supported by teammates that have become their extended family.

The sense of unity between both teams was demonstrated through the depth of their humor and the sincerity of their laughter, which can only be achieved through collective vulnerability and trust. All of this was only possible through their extensive time together and the boundless care and love that Hannah and Alaina, among others, have given these groups.

Following the roast, everyone in Watts Hall sat and watched a slideshow with photos from Team Patagonia's and Team North Face's Trekker experiences, which was accompanied with a set list of songs straight from a Trekkers trip playlist.

Students from Team Patagonia were sitting together, arms over shoulders, singing along quietly and swaying to Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, a song that has been sang together on the Team Patagonia bus since 8th grade-- through Boston and snowy days in Washington D.C,; in the rolling hills near Stump Sprouts in Massachusetts; driving away from the Great Sand Dunes in Utah and through the red rocks in Colorado; and many more places.

Rather than be embarrassed, I am proud to say I was teary eyed in that moment, because I knew the significance, and the context, around that singular moment in a way that words tend to fail to encapsulate.

Many of the students that I once led are now leaders in the program, and I would be lying if I said that didn't make me feel old-- a funny feeling for a 21 year old to have, I know. Nevertheless, in truth, I feel inspired. It simply means that there are more talented young leaders now than there were before, and that is the whole point, isn't it?

Therefore, I will continue working with Trekkers. I have formed many friendships through Trekkers over the years, people that I know have my back as I continue developing personally and professionally, and I intend to do the same for others in the future. It just so happens that being involved with Trekkers is the best way of doing that!

Kaleb Robinson

Trekkers Alum, Former Board Member and Volunteer