A Little More about WILD

Since we're about to head out on this trip, I should probably talk a little bit about the Wilderness Initiative for Leadership Development (WILD). 

Spurred by Andrew Dietrich (MEM/MBA, 2012), Duke's brand-new club/organization/initiative/course (still undetermined what the classification will be) has planned its first trip to Ecuador for this January. Most WILD teammates will leave on January 5th and return on the 13th. The plan for our trip is to spend the first 3 to 4 days training, climb Cotopaxi, and return to Quito. Intermingled with the physical activities are leadership development exercises and informal presentations by students on Ecuador, Mountain Safety, Acclimatization, and other pertinent topics. Cotopaxi is one of the world's highest active volcanoes at 19,347 ft and it will undoubtedly be a strenuous ascent.

While Fuqua and the Nicholas School both have leadership initiatives, WILD fills a under-served niche. It provides a unique platform for those those seeking to experience and test their leadership skills outside of the academic walls and in situations with unanticipated risk. The Inaugural WILD team (15 people) is passionate about spearheading the development of this organization, its curriculum and developing future trips. 

That being said - it's not all serious! We are students on break, after all. We'll also be doing a scavenger hunt on the first day and spending some time getting to know Ecuador and the local scene. We're expecting to learn from our failures and successes in addition to getting to know each other. Here we come, Ecuador!