Maryville Students Trade the Classroom for the Mountains, Return Energized and Inspired

This summer, a group of Maryville University student leaders traded classrooms for mountain trails, keynote stages, picnic table conversations, and thought-provoking debates as President Dan Shipp and Tatum Ahring, Director of Campus and Community Impact, led the University's first cohort to the Aspen Ideas Festival. The experience was more than a trip. It was an extension of Maryville's active learning and living ecosystem, where learning is designed to happen wherever curiosity, community, and opportunity intersect.

The Aspen Ideas Festival isn't your typical conference. It's a place where Nobel Prize winners share the stage with entrepreneurs, journalists challenge elected officials, artists spark conversations with scientists, and students find themselves eating lunch beside national leaders - often without realizing it until the conversation is over.

For four days, Maryville students immersed themselves in conversations about democracy, artificial intelligence, leadership, higher education, community, politics, ethics, innovation, and the future of our world. But when they returned home, something unexpected happened.

They didn't come back to St. Louis talking about celebrity speakers or interesting ideas, they came back talking about people.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

At Maryville, we believe education happens everywhere. It happens in classrooms and laboratories. In residence halls and service projects. Through internships, travel, conversations, and moments that challenge what we think we know.

This summer, Aspen became another classroom. More importantly, Aspen became another community of learning. It embodied what Maryville believes at its core: transformational education happens when learners engage deeply with ideas, challenge assumptions, and encounter perspectives that expand both their understanding and their humanity.

Students described learning how to sit with ideas they didn't agree with. They watched panelists engage in respectful disagreement - not to "win" an argument, but to genuinely understand another perspective. They discovered that some of the world's brightest thinkers weren't interested in having all the answers. Instead, they were interested in asking more questions.

One student reflected that their view of leadership had changed saying, "leadership isn't about always being right. Instead, it seems effective leadership is about being curious enough to keep learning and listening to others."

Another student shared that "the American Dream isn't simply success or status, but the freedom to imagine an idea and pursue it alongside others from different backgrounds."

Discovering the Power of Dialogue

Perhaps the biggest surprise wasn't what students heard on stage, it was how people treated one another.

Many expected political division. Instead, they found conversations rooted in respect. People disagreed - sometimes passionately - but still listened. The Aspen Ideas Festival is designed to bring people with different experiences, expertise, and ideas together to wrestle with difficult questions while remaining committed to learning from one another and creating a better world together. In a time when headlines often amplify conflict, Aspen reminded the students that meaningful dialogue is still possible - more than that, it's essential.

One student reflection captured it beautifully: "It has never been about us versus one another. It seems to [actually] be us versus what we think will create true happiness for all." That lesson may be one of the most important takeaways of all.

The Best Conversations Weren't Always on Stage

Some of the most memorable moments happened between sessions - over lunch, walking through town, or sharing stories with strangers.

One student described sitting on a park bench beside someone he assumed was simply another attendee. Only later did he discover he had spent dinner talking with the president of the American Council on Education. What struck him wasn't the title - it was the humility.

Another student wrote about slowing down enough to notice the mountains, enjoy long walks with friends, sit in the grass during lunch, and appreciate the simple moments that often become the ones we remember most. Aspen reminded students that leadership isn't always found behind a podium. Sometimes it's found around a dinner table.

Big Questions Without Easy Answers

The festival challenged students to think beyond themselves and toward their responsibility to the communities they will someday lead. The conversations weren't simply about politics, artificial intelligence, or democracy. They were about what it means to be an engaged citizen, an ethical leader, and a person willing to leave the world better than they found it.

Several students left fascinated by the role AI will play in shaping the future - not just technologically, but ethically. Others found themselves exploring civic responsibility, public policy and service, and the importance of character in leadership. One student reflected that regardless of political association, integrity may be the most important qualification of all.

Yet perhaps the most powerful question came from a student who admitted he kept asking himself one simple thing throughout the week:
"So what now?"
It wasn't a question of uncertainty.
It was a question of responsibility.
If we know more…
If we've seen more…
If we've heard perspectives different from our own…
What do we do next?

Returning Home Changed

The Festival experience wasn't designed to tell students what to think.
It invited them to think more deeply.
To listen more carefully.
To question more honestly.
To become more thoughtful leaders.

Many returned with renewed confidence that they can contribute to conversations larger than themselves. Others left inspired to study geopolitics, strengthen communities, become better managers, or pursue careers dedicated to public service. Nearly every reflection mentioned a desire to continue learning - not because they had found all the answers, but because they had discovered better questions.

Why This Matters

Experiences like this one reinforce something we believe deeply at Maryville. Education is not simply about earning a degree, it's about becoming the kind of person who makes the world better.

The world doesn't just need more experts. It needs more people willing to listen, willing to serve, willing to ask difficult questions, willing to build trust, and willing to leave the ladder down for those coming behind them.

Our students returned from Aspen with new ideas, new friendships, and new perspectives. More importantly, they returned ready to contribute - to their communities, to their professions, and to a world in need of compassionate, thoughtful leaders.

Because that's what Saints do.

The world needs more Saints.