Tuck is a small place; at any one time there are less than 500 students here. But the reach of Tuck is incredible. I’m not just talking about how international my classmates are or even the daily stream of CEOs that come through for class visits, lunches, and one-on-ones. No, even in the most out-of-the-way spots, Tuck is there.
Most recent example: this August. After my summer internship was completed I hiked the John Muir Trail out in the Sierra Nevadas of California. It’s a lengthy hike, over 200 miles, and every inch of it is elevation change. Much of it looks like this below:
And this (look closely, that’s the trail and my group perched on the ledge having a snack):
By day 18 I had become rather accustomed to living out in the woods. I was dirty and sore, I had a patchy beard, and at this point none of it bothered me. I had not checked email in month; no phone service either. The day had been typical: up at 5am, on the trail soon thereafter, hike all day, set up camp, eat, sleep. Repeat. It was rare to see more than a few people each day on the trail; sometimes we saw no one.
Except that this was my next-to-last day and I had visions of Mt. Whitney to occupy me (the John Muir Trail finishes on top of Whitney, the highest point in the Continental U.S.)
My group set up camp in late afternoon on the backside of Mt. Whitney, at an elevation of roughly 11,500 feet. We set about pumping water, preparing dinner–the usual routine. You can see a photo of our campsite here:
There was only one other group camped near us. Then out of the blue EIGHT Tuck students came up the path, also intent on hiking Mt. Whitney the following day! Now, I have run into Tuck students in the most random places, but this was tops. You simply could not get to where we were without hiking for several days.
It turned out a group of my classmates had decided that hiking in the Sierras would be fun too. They were finishing up a weeklong trek and were in roughly the same shape I was: dirty, sore, tired, but very happy. It was a true Tuck moment. Sadly the only photo I have is with just two of my classmates, Luke and Brice, which you can see here (I’m on the far left):
The point of this post is that pound-for-pound, the reach of Tuck is unbelievable. As a second year student I have become accustomed to conferences nearly every week at Tuck and CEOs walking through the hallways on a daily basis. But I never expected to run into a group of classmates in one of the most remote places in the United States. It goes to show that world really is quite small–even smaller when you’re at Tuck.
Read the full article: The Wide World of Tuck