Author: Hank Nuwer

Here is the link to P-Wild (project Wild): Northwestern.com

Excerpt:

P-Wild [Project Wild] has existed on campus since 1995. Beginning as a one-time wilderness trip in October for both freshmen and upperclassmen, it became a pre-orientation program the next year.

It has grown in popularity since then, soliciting more than 100 applicants, most of whom have gone on the trip, each year for about 17 counselor positions. The interview process, which takes place in the fall, consists of an application and a 15-minute interview, Williams said.

Williams said group is looking for new counselors who respect nature and the mission of the program, but added personality is also considered.

“You got to have some kind of charisma and be fun and be someone the campers will like and look up to,” Williams said.

Weinberg junior Sam Gutelle went on a P-Wild trip and applied to be a counselor but was not selected.

“I don’t think it’s objective because they are looking for like-minded people,” he said. “They want to find people who are going to have the audacity to streak across the sorority quad.”

The annual group of about 50 counselors leads 170 to 180 campers on the trips. The group receives approximately $2,000 each year from NU’s Associated Student Government and is publicized through NU’s website. Tuition for the program is $295 per student, with financial aid available.

Before leaving for the trip, counselors take campers’ cell phones to keep the devices safe and to avoid “distraction,” Roskey and Williams said. The groups are instructed in safety protocol and how to use equipment like camping stoves and given a portion of food they will use for the week. After this session, students drive in buses to sites in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Michigan.

Upon arrival, counselors separate from their campers, remaining within earshot and eyeshot of them. The students are given maps, compasses and instructions to meet the counselors at a second location.

Roskey said this “solo hiking” happens for several reasons.

“I think the first thing would be if we were leading them one way, they would become dependent on us,” she said. “If we were up front and saying ‘do this, do that,’ with any other problem they may encounter, they’re going to come to us. We want them to work that out themselves. That’s what being a freshman is about: being able to decide things without your parents.”

Once students arrive at the second location, the counselors rejoin them and hike with them to “base camp,” where they reunite with the other groups in the same location. At this point, the groups play games and get to know one another.

On the University-hosted P-Wild website, the group states it is “right for anyone.” But several students said what they saw in person surprised them. Communication sophomore Rachel Geistfeld said the realities of P-Wild did not match her assumptions based on information available before the trip.

“My experience was just not at all what I expected because on the website it’s ‘go hiking in the woods,’ and it makes it seem like it’s for nature people who are really quiet,” she said.

Instead, she said, while counselors introduced themselves to the campers, one counselor pretended to give birth while other team members crawled from between her legs covered in ketchup. Several skits involved nudity.

“Saw a d*** my first day of college,” she said. “Right away you’re like, ‘What did I get myself into?'”