If you had told 14-year-old, Salvador, a wide-eyed freshman who had just arrived in the U.S. from a teeny-tiny school in Mexico, that one day he’d be sitting on the board of directors for the same program that helped him conquer his fear of speaking English… he probably would’ve nervously laughed and asked what “board of directors” even meant. Back then, he had been in the U.S. for just over a year, trying to adjust to high school life, a new language, and, well, a school with more than ten classmates. (Yes, ten. As in, you could fit his entire grade from Mexico into a minivan with room for snacks.)
Then one day, something caught his eye: a flyer taped up around his school announcing a mysterious 40-day summer course with something about backpacking, rock climbing, and poetry? It sounded intense. It sounded adventurous. It sounded like exactly the kind of thing he’d dreamed about when he was younger, staring out the window wishing he could join a local outdoor club very similar to the boy scouts, but in Mexico. So when ARC staff (shoutout to Sarah!) came to do outreach at his high school, he marched right into those recruitment meetings and listened as best as he could, wide-eyed. The flyer alone had already sparked something, backpacking? Rock climbing? Forty days in the mountains? Say less. Even though the program was giving preference to older students, he applied anyway and was ecstatic to be selected. “I couldn’t believe it,” he remembers. “I barely spoke English. But I was ready.”
He ran home and told his family the news, practically yelling with excitement: “Mamá, ¡me aceptaron!” It wasn’t just the outdoor adventure that pulled him in, but the chance to grow, especially in a language he was still struggling to speak. “At that time, I was super insecure about my English,” he shares. “If I didn’t have to talk, I just wouldn’t. I’d only speak Spanish with my friends. But ARC really helped me break that barrier.” After the program, everything changed, his confidence grew, and so did his vocabulary. “I started talking more, understanding more, expressing myself. That was huge.” And the ripple effect didn’t stop there. When he came home and shared his stories about rafting rapids, hiking peaks, reading poetry under the stars, his younger siblings were instantly hooked. “They couldn’t wait to get to high school so they could do ARC too,” he laughs. “My little sister was begging to sign up even though she was still in middle school!”
Then came Day One of the summer course! They went straight into the backpacking trip. Welcome to ARC, he remembers thinking. “There were so many highlights,” he reflects, “but also so many challenges. I mean, it’s called Adventure Risk Challenge for a reason.” He remembers arriving at the trailhead, lacing up his boots, stuffing his backpack, and thinking they’d ease into it. Nope. They hit the trail immediately, climbing uphill with heavy packs on Day One. “I thought we’d start at basecamp, maybe get used to things for a week. But no, we started hiking right away. And I was not ready. I got so dehydrated those first four days. My head was pounding. I didn’t say anything because I was too shy to speak up.” He laughs about it now and remembers so vividly how he smiled for photos and soaked in the views of waterfalls and granite peaks, pushing through the pain with quiet determination.
Despite the rocky start, the rest of the program made a lasting impact. Water rafting, kayaking, writing poetry, and growing closer with friends from his high school deepened his connection to the experience. So much so that he returned the following summer, not as a participant, but as an intern. “That second time around, everything hit differently. I got to mentor students, answer their questions about college, and support them through their own challenges. I remember their poems, their stories, it was really special. I felt proud that they looked up to me.” He grins as he recalls dodging difficult activities during his internship, only to be reminded he had to participate just like everyone else. “I thought I’d get out of the ropes course because I was taking photos. Nope. I climbed that pole and jumped for the bar. Scary, but so worth it.” Looking back, he says the friendships, the poems, and those terrifying leaps, literal and metaphorical, are some of his favorite memories. “ARC was one of the first times I realized, if I want something, I have to work for it. Things don’t just happen. But if I put in the effort, I can make it happen.” He credits ARC for pulling him out of a self-sabotaging mentality and pushing him into growth, whether it was hiking up a mountain or trying something new and scary, like applying to college. Which he did. He attended UC Santa Cruz, driven in part by, you guessed it, the outdoors. His ARC experience helped shape his college dreams, his confidence, and even his sense of integrity. “I learned that integrity means doing the right thing, even when nobody’s watching. That lesson stuck with me. ARC taught me that.” And it didn’t stop there.
Now he’s sitting on ARC’s board of directors. It’s his first board appointment, and he’s honored. “It feels really special to be shaping the organization that shaped me,” he says. “I want to give back, and do it genuinely. I know how much ARC gave me, and I want that for the next generation.” He brings the rare perspective of someone who has lived every stage of the ARC journey. From student to alumni, intern to board member. From awkward backpacking rookie to confident leader who now reminds students, “Don’t let fear stop you from trying things that are good for you.”
“Even now,” he adds, “I face challenges. But I remember what I’ve learned, that there’s so much beauty beyond the fear.”
As for his hope for future ARC students? “That they find purpose,” he says. “That they realize their actions do make a difference, even when it doesn’t feel like it. We all have a purpose. And when we believe that, we walk with more confidence in everything we do.”
He’s right. And if his story doesn’t bring a big ol’ grin to your face… well, maybe it’s time you signed up for an ARC trip.