Trying something new, again and again
As Putney Student Travel celebrates 75 years, we’re sharing stories from alumni whose summers helped define who they are today. Byars Langdon is one of them. A multi-time Putney alum, she joined five different programs over the years, exploring new places, trying new fields of study, and returning each summer ready for something new.
Her first experience came after years of attending the same summer camp. Looking for something new, her family encouraged her and her sister to try a Putney program.
“We were terrified,” Byars recalls. “But my mom told us, ‘Girls, you’ve got to go try this one trip. It’s three weeks, you can do it.’ And then we went and had the best time ever.”
One of her most meaningful memories came during a community service program in Morocco. While working with locals during a trash cleanup, she partnered with a young girl. They didn’t share a common language, but they found a way to communicate.
“We were pointing at things and trying to describe them in each other’s language,” she says “At one point she pointed to the sky, the mountains, and my dress, and I couldn’t figure it out. So I pointed to the trash bag and asked if that was the word, and she started dying laughing… Then she explained the word meant ‘beautiful.’ I just thought that was the sweetest moment.”
Another memorable moment came during a community workshop on her program in Costa Rica. Byars and a friend decided to teach a simple skill to the group: how to braid hair.
“We tried to teach everybody how to French braid and Dutch braid in Spanish,” she says. “A bunch of the teenage boys from the village came down too, so it ended up being everybody trying to learn.”
The lesson quickly turned into a lot of laughter.
“Nobody could do it,” she says, smiling. “But it was awesome. We were all just laughing the whole time, and I think we ended up teaching two or three girls in the end.”
Across five different programs, from community service to exploration to academic study, each experience brought something new. An engineering program at Oxford introduced her to concepts like computer science and environmental engineering, and even included a visit to an aerospace engineering company.
“It was the first time I really understood what that kind of work could look like,” she says.
Beyond the individual moments, Putney helped her grow in ways she didn’t expect.
“I was a super shy kid,” she says. “But by the end of that first program I had a couple really good friends, some I still talk to today. After that it just got easier.”
Trying different types of programs also helped her discover new interests and build confidence.
“It was cool to get a broad range of experiences,” she says. “You can learn things about yourself that you just wouldn’t expect.”
Today, Byars studies physics in college and hopes to pursue work connected to engineering, sustainability, or renewable energy. When she looks back at her Putney experiences, she sees them as an important part of how she got there.
Her advice to students considering a summer program with Putney is simple:
“Pick the program that you don’t think you can do,” she says. “It’s going to be the most rewarding.”
Looking back, she says those summers remain some of the most meaningful experiences she’s had.
“Out of everything my parents did for me growing up,” she says, “Putney is absolutely what I’m most grateful for.”
