What Happens Next?

Editor's note: Readers of our spring issue may recall Chad Anderson's essay in Insider headlined "What matters most," in which he detailed his mother's illness and his plan for the hike. We caught up with him in October, hike completed, to find out what happened on the hike and what's next

Graduation day finally arrives. What next? Most graduates go after a job. Preferably one with lots of money. 
But not Chad Anderson. 
After his May 2006 graduation, he headed east with two friends to hike the Appalachian Trail and promote awareness about the early detection of breast cancer.
Anderson's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring of 2002, the end of his senior year in high school. He wasn't thrilled about having to leave his mother in Michigan while he came to Texas, but in the end, "Baylor gave me a place to feel comfortable and enjoy my education," Anderson says 
"It shows character that they were willing to sacrifice getting on with their own lives to help other people," said Sharon Anderson, Chad's mother. "As a parent, it brings tears to my eyes."
Anderson became passionate about breast cancer awareness and early detection because he saw its importance. Early detection saved his mother, who has been in remission more than four years. He also has three younger sisters who are at risk for breast cancer. 
Anderson, Brad Kinkeade and Daane DeBoer set off on the 2,160-mile long trail June 5 at Mount Katahdin in Maine. Shortly into the hike, in the 100-Mile Wilderness, the trio had its first memorable experience. "There was a lot of rain," Anderson says, " And no bridges over the rivers. We were literally swimming across them with our packs and everything."
Anderson's favorite spots were the White Mountains and Presidential Range of New Hampshire and Springer Mountain in Georgia, the last stop of the hike. 
Anderson said there were some tough times on the trail. "But growing up and maturing at Baylor helped prepare me for not necessarily for the physical challenges, but spiritually and mentally for the duration of the trip."
"Going away to Baylor helped form Chad into who he is today," Sharon says. "When you're raising a family, you teach your kids right from wrong and present the gospel to them. It wasn't until he went to Baylor that it became his own personal commitment, and that definitely happened through Baylor. It wasn't a faith of his parents any more, but his own faith."
While hiking the trail, they made stops at about 10 different cities and met with the media and local Susan G. Koman affiliates. Anderson says one chapter even had a festival fundraiser the day they arrived and they were given the chance to talk about what they were doing. Anderson predicts that the hike raised between $16,000 or $17,000 for breast cancer research. 
He is taking some time off now, preparing for the Peace Corps. He leaves in January for Guinea, in West Africa. "They don't really specify exactly what you'll be doing," says Anderson, who was a business entrepreneurship and real estate major and received the Tartaglino-Richards Family Endowed Scholarship, which goes to students studying in the Hankamer School of Business. "You just have to wait until you get there. He knows he'll be working in small business consulting and thinks he'll teach the youth about entrepreneurship and running a business, as well as empowering women with information about technology.