As a first-year student in 2023, I was assigned to an AESOP called Franconia Backpacking — a backcountry hiking trip in the beautiful (and brutal) White Mountains of New Hampshire. Over the course of three days, my AESOP group traveled 20 miles with a total elevation gain of over 6,500 feet. On trail, we played games, shared stories from our pre-Bates lives, and marveled at the physical feats we could accomplish together.

The most special moment of the trip was on our last morning when a few of us hiked to the top of North Peak to watch the sunrise. The sunrise was unlike anything I had ever seen before — otherworldly even though I was fairly familiar with the area. As the sun rose over the mountains, I, too, felt on the brink of a new day, at the dawn of my Bates journey. 

Looking back on it now, this moment, and really, the entirety of my 2023 AESOP trip, marks the true beginning of my life as a Bates student. It was on this trip that I learned how much I could belong at Bates, how deep my love is for the New England wilderness, and that there are people who I could love here. It was this long-lasting impact that AESOP made on my Bates experience that made me want to sign up to lead one my senior year.

My assigned trip took me to Flagstaff Lake, where I co-led a canoe trip with four other Bates upperclassmen. For me, being an AESOP leader means that it is your job to show first-year students that they are welcome to be exactly who they are at Bates. Whether that means being adventurous, funny, curious, or quiet, I wanted everyone to feel that they could be themselves on the trip. 

The trip wouldn’t have been as successful without the heart, energy, and silliness that my co-leaders brought to activities we did with the first-year students. It was through all of our efforts — from Bananagrams to meditation time — that I think members of our AESOP felt more comfortable among one another, and hopefully will feel more comfortable at Bates.

The most rewarding part about being an AESOP leader is watching a group of strangers turn into a community. One moment the group of first-year students were telling each other their names and hometowns, and the next they were swimming together in the rain, playing poker with wood chips, and going for long walks on the beach. 

Since the 1990s, first-year students at Bates have been going on AESOP trips. As a leader, I felt intrinsically connected to the experiences my first-year students were having, and felt connected to generations of Bates students. Around the campfire, I saw friendships being built. First the conversation was casual, talking about summer jobs — one student worked in logging, another student had been a crepe chef, and several had worked as camp counselors. Then they started sharing their high school traditions like scavenger hunts and senior skip days. By the end of the trip, they had inside jokes that the other leaders and I didn’t even understand. That’s when I knew that I had done my job well.

I watched them become friends with each other and wondered if they had met their people just as I had on my AESOP. I saw them marvel at the beauty of the wilderness around them and wondered if it was in those moments that they first felt at home in Maine. 

When my co-leader, Paige Durant ’28 of Dartmouth, Mass., suggested we take the first-year students to watch the sunrise on the last morning of this AESOP trip, I remembered my own AESOP sunrise from my first year. Saying yes felt like the right answer.

At dawn on Aug. 31, a few of us piled into canoes to watch the sunrise. While we were waiting for the sun to peek out over the hills on the eastern side of the lake, we watched the sun rays incrementally light up the Bigelow Mountain Range overlooking the southern side of the lake. As I watched the first-year students marvel at all the natural beauty around them, I realized just how connected I was to them. Like I had on my trip, they unlocked a new understanding and appreciation in their hearts for the outdoors. 

While I’ll remember that sunrise with the first-year students, my favorite moment of this AESOP trip was the sunset on the first night. 

After dinner, the group journeyed to a different beach to watch the sunset. As the light faded from the sky, I sat with the other leaders on the beach and watched the first-year students chat and skip rocks onto the lake. We all gushed with happiness, feeling like the group had already made such strong connections. 

As a first-year student, I remember being nervous and not thinking any of it would be easy. Making friends, making memories. But from where we sat on the beach, these members of the Class of 2030 had made it look so easy. And that made me feel proud of them. 

I felt a sense of security knowing that even though my time at Bates will come to an end soon,  my experiences at Bates will still echo through traditions like AESOP.