Summer Bridge Voyages

The Voyages program at Pacific is a long-standing summer bonding adventure program for incoming first-year students, allowing them to select from among a dozen five-day outdoor or urban adventures, most limited to six to 10 student participants and led by two trained facilitators. These adventures are designed to help students build bonds with one another and increase their confidence in meeting the challenges of their new college environment. Unfortunately, the participation of first-generation and low-income students is disproportionately low.

In order to make this important summer experience more accessible, Pacific will cover the travel costs for students meeting low-income, first-generation and/or underrepresented ethnicity criteria. Students must also enroll in the first semester Student Success Course and continue into the semester as part of the learning community established in the Voyages program.

Pacific will continue to support extended access to Outdoor Pursuits by using grant funds to build an outdoor clothing library as well as cover the expenses of training five low-income student leaders each year, whose leadership roles will in turn inspire greater diversity of participation beyond the Voyages introduction.

One student who participated in the surfing voyage commented that it was so much fun and the students were all bonded by the end of the trip. “I went on this trip thinking that I would most likely not make any friends but it went better than I expected.” Another student, a veteran, who went on a back packing trip to Gifford Pinchot National Forest and in particular at the Indian Heaven Wilderness Reserve found the area to be breathtaking. They commented that all students really bonded during the trip and many students on the trip they still see and get regular meals with to see how they are “in the first foray into college.”