Walkabout Graduates Gain Confidence

It came down to confidence – the confidence to express themselves, to try new things, to follow their passions, to ask for help. As this year’s Walkabout graduates head off to college, there’s no question that each of them leaves with a newfound confidence and the tools they need to succeed.

Members of this year’s graduating class, the last in Walkabout’s 37-year history, presented their reflections on the yearlong program last week at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES. A new version of Walkabout, offered in collaboration with Briarcliff High School, will begin in September.

Having worked at the world’s largest literary agency reviewing manuscripts from aspiring writers, Samantha Klein said she learned the value of asking questions and getting it right, whether she was writing a rejection letter to an author or picking up coffee for her boss.

“I learned that asking questions isn’t a sign of incompetence; it’s mature,” she said. “It taught me how to be straight forward and that’s not just important for college, it is important for life.”

A Chappaqua resident, Klein said she will be attending Bard College in September where she hopes to focus on writing and find a similarly supportive learning community.

By interning at a radio station, Briarcliff’s Kyle Birch said he was able to indulge his passion for music and work with people who understood how important it was to him. He also learned how to express himself through writing, and how to view the world with a photographer’s eye. But, most important, he said, he had “learned to live life to the fullest…to enjoy the beauty of simple things.”

Birch will attend Champlain College in Vermont and hopes to go into broadcasting.

Angeles Shih, also a Chappaqua student, said she learned professionalism and the importance of teamwork from her internship at a fashion showroom in New York. “It was my job to get the collections ready. When buyers came in, we had to get the models and dress them up and put on a mini runway,” Shih said.

Shih also learned to work hard but to take time to reflect, to ask herself ‘Am I worrying for the right reasons?’ In September, she will start classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She said she knows it will be hectic and demanding but she has the skills to manage it thanks to Walkabout.

Sarah Meisel, a Briarcliff student, spoke about the transformative effect of a five-day hike in the Catskill Mountains that she took with her Walkabout peers. “It was five days in the woods, no books, no phones, none of that,” she said, adding that while she would not have chosen to go on a hike on her own, the end result was positive. “We had to hike six miles with a backpack and when I reached the top I realized I had done something that I didn’t think I was capable of doing two days earlier.”

Meisel said she will be attending college 2,780 miles away in California. Although she will be faced with a whole new set of challenges in college, Meisel said she was confident she would be able to handle them.

Founded in 1977, Walkabout is an alternative education program for college-bound high school seniors who wish to gain confidence, motivation and direction for the future. It combines community service projects, internships, backpacking trips and rigorous academics in a small group setting.

The following students graduated from Walkabout this year:

Keanu Lynch, Kyle Birch, Noah Berger, and Sarah Meisel from Briarcliff; Wilyem Thoms from Bronxville; Angeles Shih, Jackson Patrick-Sternin, Samantha Klein from Chappaqua; Jade Silverstein from Haldane; Marissa Macey from Lakeland; Julie Fuzessery from Ossining’ and Sebastian Link from Putnam Valley.