Principia has more ways to discover, contribute, perform, and achieve than can be counted. Discover the world and discover things about yourself. Contribute to the world at large or make a difference on campus.

Experience your academics in a whole new way. Interested in business? Trees? Weather? Pancakes and maple syrup? These all come together in the Sugar Bush Management course offered each winter. Get outside and tap maple trees with your classmates; create, market, and sell your own maple product in the College Bookstore (taffy, cookies, candy); boil sap past midnight because the sap was running fast today; and package and sell what you and your classmates produce (with the help of the maple trees). Tap another kind of tree just to see what happens. This is just one example of making your education your own at Principia.

Travel abroad. Mongolia, India, New Zealand, Peru, and France all expect your attention. It’s cool, and it’s for credit. Besides, you’ll discover things you never knew about yourself — and the 19 other students along with you.

Start a club, or join one called the Lazy Zipper. Sing with +1. Learn ballroom dance or swing. Spend an afternoon hidden away in the Writers’ Cabin overlooking the Mississippi River. Learn to play the carillon (What’s that? Come see!). Play a tune at the Home Grown Music Festival. Seek out the weeknight dodgeball ritual, the lacrosse club, that funny game of campus golf played with a tennis ball, or blow-darts in the Science Center.

Before he graduated in 2006, Donnie Miller, a religion major, went on the Principia Himalayas Abroad.

“The Everest trek was very challenging. We encountered a lot of wind, and it was very dry and very dusty. The sun was harsh, and after the first night about eight people in the group decided to not continue. There were already two or three others who didn’t even start the trek. So a large percentage of the group didn’t continue.

“As we were on the third or fourth day, we were going through the last day of trekking and we were on this jeep path. So the rest of the abroaders were going by on jeeps. But a couple of them stopped and called out, ‘Hey Donnie, do you want us to drive you up the rest of the way?’

“At this point I was alone. There were some others in front and behind me. I thought I saw them. I was really tired and dusty, and that jeep looked really comfortable. It was one more instance of finishing what you start and not getting in the habit of selling out too soon. I knew that this was an opportunity that I was never going to have again. I didn’t want to risk not enjoying it to the utmost. So I continued to hike, and when I got there I was extremely tired but it was also really nice to go the whole way to the monastery where we were meeting.

“The next day we had the option of either hiking or taking horses to Everest base camp, and most people took the horses. I really wanted to hike the whole way again. It was about seven miles one way to the base camp, so when I got there — I hiked the whole way — then I enjoyed the horse ride back to the monastery.”