Rebecca Thomas ‘06 grew up on Roland Avenue right around the corner from Bryn Mawr, attending from seventh to twelfth grade. Thomas and both of her sisters are Bryn Mawr graduates, and their mother was a Bryn Mawr teacher in the 80s. After graduation, Thomas took a gap semester to travel to Southeast Asia before packing her bags for Colorado College in the winter of 2007. After college, Thomas traveled the world working in a variety of roles in outdoor education, and is now the founder of Pacha Adventure Community, a company that offers wilderness adventures & wellness retreats for women. Today, she calls Portland, Maine home, where she lives with her “wild, crazy and sweet” puppy Bear. Although she has found her “home base” in Maine, Thomas never passes up the opportunity for a new adventure.  

After college, I lived in Colorado until 2010 with no intention of coming back east. I spent nine years working in various roles in outdoor education that took me all over the world. I led programs for Overland Summers and instructed gap year semesters for Pacific Discovery. I led high school and college students abroad in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Ecuador, Galapagos and Mexico. After living out of a backpack for years, I decided to attempt to create a home base and found myself moving (east!) to Portland, Maine in 2015. I thought it was going to be a quick pit stop on my journey, but I've now lived there for four years and feel at home.  
I extended my time with Pacific Discovery and worked as the outreach and alumni director here in Maine, working directly with students and families to help choose their program. I also got to guide a bit, train instructors in New Zealand and travel to Gap Year Fairs across the U.S. to promote our programs. After craving a more local community job, I worked at Teens To Trails for over two years helping high schools start Outing Clubs. I worked on our outdoor programming, grants, skills & leadership sessions and fundraising events. Last year, I decided to shake things up a bit and accept a role as events manager for Oxbow Brewing Company. I manage their events at three locations including community events, beer releases, dance parties and weddings.

I've always known that I wanted to build my own business, build something from scratch and work for myself. I truly always thought it would be my own international adventure company for students, but after being in the gap year field I realized that the market is pretty saturated with companies. I also realized in my years at Bryn Mawr and Colorado College that the best memories I have were adventuring with a great lady crew in the outdoors. I wanted to create these experiences for groups of women.

Pacha Adventure Community came about after a weekend on the Appalachian Trail with a group of 10 girl friends. My best friend from college, Cat, and I planned this amazing weekend getaway with our group of friends filled with hiking, camping and swimming excursions in Western Mass. As we were hiking, Cat and I realized we always took this role for our friends— the adventure planners. And, we both loved it! We decided we wanted to provide these experiences for more women and create an adventure community in New England. The name Pacha was inspired by one of my female role models and great friend, Alexandra who lives in a small community in northern Ecuador. Pachamama is an indigenous Andean word which has become a symbol for Mother Earth. In Inca mythology, Pachamama is the goddess who embodies the mountains and presides over the earth and all things natural. We all connected deeply with this interpretation and felt like Pacha was the perfect name for an adventure company that brings women together in wild places.

My favorite part of my job is watching someone get pushed out of their comfort zone and do something that they swore to themselves they could never do. It's amazing how the mind works and can talk us around thinking we can do something. Since we started, we have offered five different retreats in New England. We offer overnight hut, hiking and yoga trips to cabins in New Hampshire in both the summer and winter. We have also offered weekend retreats with kayaking, hiking and yoga options. My two Bryn Mawr classmates, Nina Russell ‘06 and Courtney Burd ‘06 have even joined us on two Pacha adventures!
Above: Thomas, joined by Nina Russell '06 and Courtney Burd '06, on a Pacha trip.
Bryn Mawr is able to cultivate a beautiful community of traditions that transcends generations. You will always feel connected to your classmates but can also connect with anyone who attended the school through these traditions, and that's an especially rare connection to make.
My experience and education at Bryn Mawr absolutely helped me get where I am today. It challenged me, pushed me out of my comfort zone, allowed me to explore all my many interests and gave me the confidence to be who I am today. I think one of the most palpable skills is public speaking. As much as I was frightened of our junior year public speaking class, I am so happy that we were required to do it. I think it's an important skill for everyone to learn and to learn that in high school is even better. So thanks to Mr. Shoemaker for making that one happen! I was inspired by so many teachers, coaches and staff at Bryn Mawr, but I became really close with all of the amazing kitchen staff, so I would say that Ms. Barbara definitely inspired me the most out of anyone at Bryn Mawr. She was such a hard worker and I felt like she always had a smile on her face. I remember saying goodbye to her when I graduated and feeling so connected to the spirit she brought to her life and work at BMS. 
 
I have so many fond memories of Bryn Mawr. Honestly, I'm not a morning person but I’m realizing that some of my favorite memories actually have to do with the early morning practices during my junior and senior year on the Ice Hockey and Crew teams. We practiced before school either at the Northwest Hockey Rink and the Baltimore Rowing Club. It was challenging, rewarding and everything in between. I loved it, and have just started to play ice hockey again with my brewery colleagues and I'm hoping to get back into rowing this spring.
I also have to say that I really loved my memories of overlapping with both my sisters in high school. I was lucky to overlap with my older sister, Victoria during my freshman & sophomore years, and then again with my little sister Annie during my senior year. It was awesome to be there together and help each other out when we needed it. The continued traditions of Gym Drill, Convocation, Bell Ringing, Ring Dance, our school songs, and the Spirit Days, are what sets Bryn Mawr apart.


My advice to current students is try everything! Try all the sports, try out for the plays, take advantage of all of the amazing activities and experiences you can be a part of at Bryn Mawr. Get to know your classmates...all of them. Remember that everybody has something special to offer, so talk to them. Most importantly, it's not worth your time in life to be cliquey or make anyone feel lesser or left out.

I have always felt like my path was and still is circuitous, and I hope it always continues to be. I'm all about the journey. I definitely had (and have) big dreams and lots and lots of goals. I feel like knowing that sometimes it takes some back and forth and trying, failing, growing and learning to make something happen is a good mindset to have. It's so great to reflect on how Bryn Mawr has shaped me as a person and helped me succeed in life. So thank you Bryn Mawr for continuing to be a great community to be a part of, and for sharing my adventures!
 
Located in Baltimore, Maryland, The Bryn Mawr School is a private all-girls pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school with a coed preschool for ages 2 months through 5 years. Bryn Mawr provides students with exceptional educational opportunities on a beautiful 26-acre campus within the city limits. Inquisitive girls, excellent teaching, strong student-teacher relationships and a clear mission sustain our vibrant school community where girls always come first.