Note to Parents

The first year at college can sometimes be difficult, especially for incoming students who don’t already know very many people on campus. We believe (and research shows) that a FOP experience can be an important way to help first-years adjust both to their classmates and to Harvard by introducing them to a group of other first-years and two or three upperclassmen. Around 300 first-years choose to go on some type of FOP trip in the week before Opening Days, and we hope your son or daughter will join us.

Our leaders are sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have gone through an extensive training process. Our leader training program, which takes place in the spring, includes two weekend skills days, two weeknight skills workshops, a ten day long trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire after exams, and four days of workshops and other training just before FOP trips go out in the fall. In total, our leaders experience about 400 hours of training. In addition, leader trainees spend the first two days of training trips in a Wilderness First Aid certification class taught by SOLO (Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities) in North Conway, NH. A few of our leaders often have the higher wilderness medicine certifications of Wilderness First Responder or Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician.

We are proud that we are one of the few college outdoor programs to be accredited by the Association for Experiential Education (AEE). For more information on what accreditation means, please visit the AEE Accreditation webpage.