Fourteen students traveled to Jebel Shams, a mountainous area outside of Muscat, as the capstone activity to the semester-long GPS program. Students worked as a team to set up camp and complete a series of mental and physical challenges over the three-day experience.

The GPS program is designed to guide first-year students through leadership training and personal development with weekly activities throughout the fall semester. Students learn how to collaborate, explore their values and strengths, and commit to self-improvement.

“GPS Oman is the final activity in the program, and we put all the skills they have learned to the test. The purpose is to build community in an environment that is completely different from what they’re used to,” said Kevin D’Arco, director of student activities and first-year programs.

While in Oman, students rappelled down a cliff face, a 30-meter drop, and climbed back up through a mountainside climbing course. They also did a balcony walk, a three-hour hike up a mountain along a narrow pathway. Back at camp, they took first aid training and reflected on the challenges of the outdoor experience.

“Some of the activities are difficult and frightening, and the trip can be uncomfortable—the temperature dipped below 10°C at night—but the students finished the trip thinking, if I can rappel down a cliff, I can do anything,” D’Arco continued.

Most GPS students use their leadership skills as a springboard to other activities on campus. Many go on to become counselors during Orientation Week, who in turn promote GPS and being active on campus.

Dina Al-Tarawneh, a first-year biological sciences student, reflected on the GPS experience: “GPS gave me the insight to act in congruence: with nature and its harsh weather, with people and their different personalities, but most importantly, with myself.”