SUCCESS STORIES

My name is Gabe Lebold. I would like to take a moment and share my story and love for SOAR. Back in 2018 my family and I were having struggles with the public school system and we needed to find a new place for me to finish high school. Through lots of research and conversations with friends and family, we discovered SOAR. My entire time at SOAR was a blessing and helped me mature and grow as a young man. Not only did I learn new skills academically and exceed the expectations I had set for myself and my teachers, but I also grew holistically. I attended SOAR for three years and had the experience of a lifetime. I don’t think there is any other program in the U.S. or in the world that could match what SOAR offers youth. The time and dedication that the instructors, teachers, and staff put into the students is incredible. It brings me joy and happiness to see kids I graduated with and younger generations come to SOAR succeeding and doing great things. SOAR creates an environment for growth and opportunity. It teaches kids so many skills and habits that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. SOAR has been changing lives for over 45 years and continues to do an amazing job. I graduated from SOAR in 2022 and I have been living in Boston for the past year pursuing my undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Real Estate at Suffolk University while also pursuing my Real Estate License. SOAR has been by my side through this entire journey. I still stay in touch with my instructors and staff, and I give back to SOAR by being a part of the Stewards of SOAR. Consider donating to SOAR so that this incredible program can continue to help future generations become successful leaders in the world.

I don't often talk about my high school, it's simply a lot to explain. Usually about the time I tell people my graduating class was six people they get this funny look and go, "huh?". The part where I tell them we go backpacking and canoeing is where they begin to look a little impressed. The last stage of this cycle(which I have gone through many times) is when I tell them I became deep water and nitrox dive certified as part of my high school curriculum, and they promptly stop believing me.

SOAR is unique. There is nothing else in the world like it, and that is because what they do at the academy is transformational. I never imagined myself at SOAR. For context, I am a typical suburban kid from Atlanta, I envisioned myself graduating from the public high school nearby which had a graduating class of something like eight hundred. However, a series of events unfolded that proved beyond a reasonable doubt I could not succeed at home. I was afraid of a lot of things(chiefy of being myself, i.e vulnerable/genuine), and most importantly I had no idea of how to ask for help. These things compounded until finally my mother had to make a very difficult gamble to send me to some summer camp in Western North Carolina that apparently had a boarding school as well. It was a heartbreaking experience, but it would be the start of a very important journey.

I arrived at SOAR and things did not magically improve, in fact they sucked quite a bit for the first few weeks. The process is slow, but it builds on itself. You meet people and are forced to connect with them on a more meaningful level than you realized was possible. Your instructors are pseudo parents, guiding you in the little nuances of life and how to be a better person. I will never forget the evening check-ins where my staff helped me to reflect on how I could do better the next day(thank you Sadie), or something as small as talking about a funny looking dog I saw(there are so many). If you are lucky, you might even get to shed some tears in one of those check-ins, but you have to be willing to feel some feels.

Those are a few of the things I felt while in the program, but the most important change happened at the end of my second year. The deal with my family was that I would go to SOAR for two years and then I could go back home. I had said going home was the goal from the start, and my parents were not at all opposed to the idea of NOT having to pay roughly the tuition of Harvard so I could go to high school. However, just before the end of my junior year I popped the question, "Could I stay at SOAR?". The answer was yes, and I finished out senior year right where I wanted to. It was a rewarding year to put it modestly.

SOAR has not stopped changing my life even after I graduated. I was lucky enough to be hired as an intern at the SOAR Wyoming base and had an amazing experience learning to become an assistant horse wrangler, and then eventually field staff. In fact, this coming summer I will be employed at the Wyoming base yet again. There are few days where I don`t talk to my SOAR peeps, the friendships have been something special. SOAR also helped foster the drive and willingness to seek out new challenges. This is most clear to me as I enter my second semester at college in my school's ROTC and continue practicing as a new competition horseback rider, I am always willing to try something new and give it my best. I shamelessly admit that SOAR helped deliver me to where I am today, and for that I am eternally grateful.

SOAR is not for everyone, but if you let the system help you grow, then I promise you will do just that.