“Experiencing those uncomfortable physical, mental and emotional periods of time was so rewarding because I look back and think ‘wow, I just lived through all that discomfort.’ It’s something you can carry with you, to remember that if I lived through that, I can live through anything." –Evie Hagan '22

It had been raining in Patagonia, Chile for a week straight when finally the weather broke. Evelyn (Evie) Hagan ’22 and her Alzar School classmates came to a rapid that was too dangerous to cross and started readying themselves for the one kilometer portage. 

“You take apart everything. Your gear rafts and the kayaks, and you have to carry everything — bags, clothes, food, pans, tables, everything. We carried it through really steep inclines and declines,” explains Hagan. “My best friend Elias and I had to carry a huge table that we cooked our meals on. It was supposed to take about 30 minutes to do the kilometer, and it was already taking longer than it should. We got to the top and started doing the decline, and then decided to slide down the rest of the way on the table. No matter what the weather was, we made the best of it.”

Alzar is a Spanish verb that means “to rise,” or “to elevate,” which is quite fitting, both literally and figuratively, for Hagan’s experience at the Alzar School in the fall of 2019. Alzar’s goal is to elevate what education means for high school students (plus they literally climb mountains).

The semester is split between two locations — the banks of the Payette River in Cascade, Idaho, and Patagonia, Chile. Through what is known as the Six Foundations, (leadership, development, academics, cultural exchange, outdoor adventure, service learning, and environmental stewardship) Alzar “develops young leaders through a rigorous academic curriculum cultural exchange, and outdoor adventure.”

“The connections I made were my favorite thing about the trip,” recalls Hagan. “We all became really close because we had to face really hard things together, and I’ve never been so dependent on people I didn’t know very well. There were times where you’re hiking in pouring rain and snow with no clean clothes left, food rations were late being delivered, and you really had to lean on your classmates.”

“Experiencing those uncomfortable physical, mental and emotional periods of time was so rewarding because I look back and think ‘wow, I just lived through all that discomfort.’ It’s something you can carry with you, to remember that if I lived through that, I can live through anything,” adds Hagan.

Find out more about The Alzar School at alzarschool.org.