Each year in August, Alaska Pacific University’s new and transfer students embark on adventures called Journeys which serve as APU’s own unique form of new student orientation. Specifically, "Journeys" are small group backcountry excursions through the Alaskan wilderness that provide students with their first taste of learning Alaska Pacific University style. Patrick Boyne, a Journeys leader, says, "The goals of Journeys are to introduce students to the Alaskan outdoors, their classmates and especially to APU’s philosophy of Active Learning."

Andre Brown, an APU Junior who participated in a sea kayaking Journey into Prince William Sound last fall, describes the experience as "basically orientation, except where other schools would make you sit in a room and fill out paper work, APU takes you into the middle of nowhere and then has you do it. Just kidding, he added. It is actually a wonderful opportunity to make friends with people you may not ever have gotten to know and you get a taste of what it will be like to be an APU student. It was a great experience. We camped near a glacier, saw bears, Minke whales, and porpoises and learned how to sea kayak."

This year students had the opportunity to choose from four varied excursions into some of the most beautiful and challenging wilderness in Alaska, all led by APU staff and student leaders experienced in wilderness travel. Trips included a sea kayaking voyage into Prince William Sound’s Harriman Fjord; two backpacking journeys in the Talkeetna Range — a long range trip geared for more advanced hikers or a medium range, less strenuous hike which covered a shorter distance and had an easier grade; or a rafting adventure down the spectacular Chulitna River.

By all accounts, the students who attended this year’s trips had memorable and enjoyable experiences, even with a little homegrown Alaskan weather thrown in for good measure. According to one of the students who joined the sea kayaking trip, "it rained for 105 hours straight and it was still a great time."

No matter which Journey they choose to join, or how bad the weather, each and every student comes away from their Journey having gained new skills, a new outlook, renewed purpose, and a group of friends that will enrich both their educational experience at APU and their lives overall. Adventure and purpose — that’s what Journeys are all about.