Imagine one day, you are sitting at a computer trying to register for classes but are completely lost. Not only do you not know what classes to take, but you don't even know what your major is, let alone where your life will go. Then suddenly, you find yourself wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase while listening to Yanni in a shiny elevator on your way to chat with one of the biggest names in business. What kind of a summer roadtrip is this?!In 2001, undeclared students and friends Nathan Gebhard, Brian McAllister and Mike Mariner applied for a grant from Pepperdine University to take a roadtrip across the country to meet with leaders who found their own, unique roads in life. After receiving a grant, the team of three purchased a run-down RV, painted it neon green and set out to tour the United States.
According to McAllister, over the course of a few months the three friends met with more than 80 leaders who shared their amazing stories about the paths they took to get to where they are today.
The inaugural trip included interviews with people such as the chairman of Starbucks, a lobsterman in Maine, the director of Saturday Night Live,\ the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, the head stylist for Madonna and the scientist who decoded the human genome.
Each interviewee shared how they disregarded societal pressures to conform and found their own way to happiness and success. All of the interviews were recorded and turned into a documentary the students could share with other college students looking for their paths in life.
Gebhard, McAllister and Mariner were so inspired by the stories they heard and what they learned from these leaders that they decided to share their vision of ""finding the open road"" with others by starting a grassroots organization called Roadtrip Nation. It has since become a movement on more than 100 college campuses including UW-Madison.
There are two programs that students can apply for through RTN. ""Behind the Wheel"" is a nationwide application process that selects teams of three students who represent RTN in a trip across the country for five weeks each summer. The teams of three design their entire trip by deciding where they are going to go and who they are going to interview. Once selected, the team of three is given a big green motor home and State Farm Insurance provides the students money for travel expenses.
""Usually it's a perspective change [for students],"" McAllister said. Two years ago, more independent teams from UW-Madison applied for grants from RTN than any other school in the country. According to Diana Maki, the UW-Madison contact person for RTN at the Career Exploration Center, Room 6 Ingraham Hall, no UW-Madison student has yet been given a grant to do ""Behind the Wheel.""
The second way to participate in the RTN movement is to apply for the ""Independent Roadtrip Grant"" program. This program is more home-based, since any student, any time of year can apply for a grant. The goal is to identify and interview local leaders who are doing something in their field of interest.
Students can fit as many people as they want in their own cars and can interview as many people as possible, usually in a weekend or a week's time. Individual grants are awarded somewhere in the range of $200 to $700 to be used toward food, gas, recording equipment and any other legitimate traveling expenses. Independent experiences and interviews are recorded to share with others on the RTN Website.
Maki said Roadtrip Nation is for the student still exploring what career he or she wants and is running out of time and options. It can be very valuable because there is no advisor acting as a middle-man, and the trips are experience-based.
Like many students trying to find their own roads in life, UW-Madison junior Jeff Wright took interest in the program during one of his visits to campus as a prospective student. Wright was most interested in the program's unique philosophy and the possibility of becoming truly inspired through hearing someone else's stories.
""One thing that I really identify with is the mission of Roadtrip Nation and its philosophy … it's very simple, but at the same time it's very enlightening. The simplicity of going out and sort of not only exploring who you are, but doing that through the stories of others, I think that is just amazing,"" he said.
Wright said his dream interview would be with Russ Feingold on an RTN-sponsored ""Behind the Wheel"" trip.
Wright hopes to start up an RTN chapter in the fall at UW-Madison that will allow students interested in RTN's mission to meet with each other on a weekly basis to discuss possible people to interview, interviews they have done with local leaders and even to put together teams that would apply for the ""Behind the Wheel"" program and independent grants.
Visit www.roadtripnation.com to learn more, or stop into Cross-College Advising Service's Exploration Center to pick up resources for an application or watch past RTN interviews.
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