• HOME
• HISTORY
• STORIES
• FUNDRAISING
• CELEBRATIONS
• SHARE A MEMORY
• GALLERY

Back to all stories ➔

Patricia Chan’s La Vida Experience

La Vida participant and sherpa from 2005–2008 

Program Coordinator for Adventure WV
at West Virginia University 
Morgantown, WV

When I enrolled at Gordon College as a freshman, I was planning to study marine biology. Then I went kayaking with La Vida. Somewhere along that journey, La Vida's kayaking trip set me on a new trajectory for what I wanted to pursue as a career. La Vida helped me think critically about community and leadership in new ways. It was one of the first times in my life that I was put into a situation specifically dedicated to exploring these important contexts and I was immensely grateful to be in those spaces. I was challenged to develop better habits as a group member, educator, and a happy, healthy human.

Throughout my time at Gordon I was involved with La Vida through instructing the summer ADK trips, challenge course facilitation, working as a teacher's assistant for Discovery courses, managing the rock gym, and participating in the WILD semester. I left Gordon with a degree in communication arts (with a focus in journalism) and two additional minors in Spanish and outdoor education. After graduating I jumped into seasonal outdoor work, including heading back to the North Shore to serve as the assistant director of the WILD semester. Since then, I have continued my journey in outdoor education at various colleges and universities across the U.S. My experiences with La Vida—the people, places and lessons learned—laid a strong foundation for launching me into a career focused on leadership development through outdoor programming within higher education.