Heather Matheson, who is playing a key role organizing the fourth annual Foster Youth Questival, describes why climbing a 14,000-foot mountain was so important to her and how your support can help former foster youth reach new heights.
The weekend of June 17th will be my third year participating in the Foster Youth Questival, and my second year helping coordinate it. Although right now it’s hard to picture my life without factoring the Questival into my summer plans, it wasn’t always like that.
2013 had been a very rough year for me, so when my Guardian Scholars Program Case Manager suggested that it would be a good experience for me to participate in the Foster Youth Questival with her, I of course accepted looking for any way to start feeling better. I had never climbed a mountain before, and to be honest, I didn’t think I was signing up for anything much different than a tough hike or backpacking trip, but boy was I in for a surprise.
After taking a look at the list of gear we needed to bring I started to realize this was something much more major than a simple hike.
What were crampons? Why would I need an ice axe? What did I get myself into?
As nervous as I was, I decided to “woman up” and join my fellow foster youth up the mountain. Making that decision was probably the best thing I could have done for myself at the point in my life.
While I didn’t make it to the summit my first year on the mountain, that experience gave me confidence and pride in myself, which was something I hadn’t really felt since I got accepted into college. Suddenly I didn’t feel so hopeless about the things that had been getting me down all year, but instead felt excited for the future. I also felt very privileged to be surrounded by such a strong group of foster youth and so many people who were passionate about improving the foster care system. That experience also taught me that even though I didn’t reach my goal of summiting, I could still be proud of myself. I faced my fears, climbed a mountain, and I did it for a good cause.
One of the best things that came out of not summiting in my first attempt was how hungry it made me to try again.
In 2014 I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to help coordinate the Questival in addition to climbing. In my second attempt I made it to the summit, but I didn’t do it alone. The average rate of successful Mt. Shasta summits is 50 percent, we had five out of our six youth climbers make it to summit, an 83 percent success rate.
Such a high success rate for our youth climbers is impressive, but not surprising. The youth who participate in the Foster Youth Questival are impressive young adults. They are strong and resilient and passionate about improving the foster care system.
Participating in the Foster Youth Questival is one of the most empowering things I have ever done in my life. For me it has been a trip consisting of several firsts: my first time sleeping under the stars, first time putting on crampons, first time seeing the sunrise from 12,000ft., my first time climbing to 14,179ft., and so many more.
I strongly encourage you to consider joining us up the mountain or supporting our climb any way you can. To make a donation in support of our Crowdrise page.
The weekend of June 17th will be my third year participating in the Foster Youth Questival, and my second year helping coordinate it. Although right now it’s hard to picture my life without factoring the Questival into my summer plans, it wasn’t always like that.
2013 had been a very rough year for me, so when my Guardian Scholars Program Case Manager suggested that it would be a good experience for me to participate in the Foster Youth Questival with her, I of course accepted looking for any way to start feeling better. I had never climbed a mountain before, and to be honest, I didn’t think I was signing up for anything much different than a tough hike or backpacking trip, but boy was I in for a surprise.
After taking a look at the list of gear we needed to bring I started to realize this was something much more major than a simple hike.
What were crampons? Why would I need an ice axe? What did I get myself into?
As nervous as I was, I decided to “woman up” and join my fellow foster youth up the mountain. Making that decision was probably the best thing I could have done for myself at the point in my life.
While I didn’t make it to the summit my first year on the mountain, that experience gave me confidence and pride in myself, which was something I hadn’t really felt since I got accepted into college. Suddenly I didn’t feel so hopeless about the things that had been getting me down all year, but instead felt excited for the future. I also felt very privileged to be surrounded by such a strong group of foster youth and so many people who were passionate about improving the foster care system. That experience also taught me that even though I didn’t reach my goal of summiting, I could still be proud of myself. I faced my fears, climbed a mountain, and I did it for a good cause.
One of the best things that came out of not summiting in my first attempt was how hungry it made me to try again.
In 2014 I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to help coordinate the Questival in addition to climbing. In my second attempt I made it to the summit, but I didn’t do it alone. The average rate of successful Mt. Shasta summits is 50 percent, we had five out of our six youth climbers make it to summit, an 83 percent success rate.
Such a high success rate for our youth climbers is impressive, but not surprising. The youth who participate in the Foster Youth Questival are impressive young adults. They are strong and resilient and passionate about improving the foster care system.
Participating in the Foster Youth Questival is one of the most empowering things I have ever done in my life. For me it has been a trip consisting of several firsts: my first time sleeping under the stars, first time putting on crampons, first time seeing the sunrise from 12,000ft., my first time climbing to 14,179ft., and so many more.
I strongly encourage you to consider joining us up the mountain or supporting our climb any way you can. To make a donation in support of our Crowdrise page.