CLIMBING: Second Year Experiential Learning Program is a multi-faceted initiative designed to increase second-year student retention while enhancing the student experience and promoting co-curricular development. Participants choose from three tracks — Research, Inquiry, and Scholarship; Service-Learning; or Sustainability — joining a cohort of peers with shared interests and pairing with both faculty and peer mentors. All participants complete a required series of personal and professional development workshops covering topics such as Passion and Focus, Strengths, Values, and Needs, Life Mapping, Goal Setting, and Altruistic Purpose.

After assessing the program’s first two years, the team identified guided self-reflection and peer storytelling as among its most powerful components, leading to the creation of Share the Climb: A Storytelling Project, which invited students, faculty, and staff to share their own stories and openly listen to others’. At the conclusion of each year, students presented proposed action projects at a poster session; select projects received grants of up to $2,000 and were carried out during students’ third year with continued mentorship support. This arc — from cohort-based learning through self-reflection to community action — reflects CLIMBING’s commitment to connecting personal growth with professional development.