I’ve posted a lot of articles about how much fun we, New River Academy students, are having and what we have been up to, but this is one of the most important points. Last summer I was at the Ottawa Kayak School Keeners camp I discovered two high schools for kayakers: New River Academy and World Class Kayak Academy. Now I am not here to bash World Class, but I am about to give you reasons as to why I chose New River Academy.

For a little while after camp I gave both schools some thought, but then I went back to my previous school in Steamboat Springs for another year. Half way through the year I realized that there was absolutely no way that I could continue with the current predicament. Midway through winter I started to hit a slump, I couldn’t kayak, and was feeling bored with a monotous routine. Sifting through a pile of random papers the New River Academy booklet fell out and prompted the thought about a kayaking high school again. One of my friends who I used to go to school with, Griff Griffith, who was and still is a student at World Class, so I decided to hit him up for some information, he provided valid points on the benefits of going to a kayaking high school.

Earlier this summer again at Keeners Kayak camp I met David  Hughes, founder/headmaster/instructor. Let me back up. So in the spring my parents promised that  if I worked hard in the previous school and improved my people skills then they would let me apply to World Class. I had chosen WCKA because of Griff Griffith and the things that he said about the school. Back to Keeners. So during Keeners I David questioned him relentlessly about New River Academy. I was interested in exploring and kayaking South America. I had just been to Peru, World Class’ destination, and I discovered NRA was going to Chile. I had never been to Chile, so that was a bit of a deciding factor, to go somewhere new.

As it turned out New River Academy has a base in Pucon with it’s own playhole. I thought, “Wow, having your own home base in a foreign country has a ton of benefits like added safety, comfort and even just enjoyability.” I also met Stephen Forester, a current New River Academy student, and Sam Fulbright, an alumni. After listening to them talk with my parents my decisions had come to end.

I chose NRA for factors like: Their use of the Keeners Ottawa riverside base versus camping, the Chile destination, a stable Chile base, a reputable safety record, past students and just some persuasion from Sam, Stephen and David.

Still my parents had not fully committed to the idea of a kayaking high school. This is where Sam, Stephen and Dave addressed parent concerns like academics and safety. When my mom came to pick me up after Keeners, we had a long sit down with David as well as conversations with Sam and Stephen. This had my mom convinced, my dad was a little harder to sway.

Help came in the form of Eugene Buchanan, founder of Paddlinglife.net, friend and team mate on my dad’s hockey team. I intern at Paddlinglife.net and I had told David about this during the summer. David contacted Eugene with the idea of creating a Paddling Life Academic Scholarship helping my family financially. At the same time I would be learning photo journalism skills and responsible for my financial assistance. My father liked the concept of learning and working for the scholarship and agreed to enroll in New River Academy.

That’s my story of how I chose New River Academy. Be sure to look for my photos and blog posts appearing on Paddlinglife.net and my NRA Matt Hill Blog.

Thanks go to: David Hughes, Eugene Buchanan, Sam Fulbright, Stephen Forester, and greatest of all Amy and Dave Hill a.k.a Mom and Dad, you’ve made all the difference!

See you on the water!