Alison Levine is already a Mountaineer – and she’s never even been to West Virginia before.

Levine is the first female American to complete the Adventure Grand Slam – climbing the highest peak on each continent and skiing to the North and South Poles. She will traverse the rolling hills of West Virginia and step foot on West Virginia University’s campus for the first time when she speaks to incoming students at New Student Welcome on Sunday (Aug. 19) at 2 p.m. in the WVU Coliseum.

She’ll talk to freshmen and transfer students as part of the program that will also include WVU President Jim Clements, Student Government Association President Zach Redding and Mountaineer Mascot Jonathan Kimble. Incoming students will also see a video with tips from current students and faculty members at WVU during the New Student Welcome presentation.

Levine remembers her freshman year at Arizona State University clearly. She used to show up to classes in flannel pajamas during her freshman year. Why? Well, she wanted her professors to think she just pulled an all-nighter.

“I thought it would help show my dedication to the assignment and might help me get a better grade. It didn’t work,” she said.

Rookie mistake. While that was years ago, it probably won’t work for this year’s freshmen either.

“My college experience helped prepare me for my various life experiences by giving me exposure to so many different types of people who had different backgrounds, interests and experiences. College taught me the importance of embracing diversity – and I’m not just talking about skin color and ethnicity,” Levine said. “You can learn so much from the people around you while you’re in college, so it’s important to take advantage of that as the more exposure you have to people who are different from you, the richer your life becomes.”

Levine still has a reoccurring dream from her freshmen year on campus. She can still remember walking around feeling overwhelmed and having the fear that she would forget where all her classes were. After that first year, she got into the swing of things.

“I worked three jobs during college – I waited tables at a local restaurant, worked at the University of Arizona Medical Center and I caught the entrepreneurial bug and started a t-shirt company where I made more money than I did my first few years out of college,” she said.

At age 32, just more than a year after a second heart surgery and just before she was set to begin graduate school at Duke University, Levine got the urge to explore. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and ever since she’s had the passion to climb the world’s tallest peaks.

When she reached the summit of Mount Everest in 2010, Levine topped the highest peaks in every continent – a stunning achievement for someone who hasn’t had success handed to her.

She’s had many setbacks. Levine was born with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a life-threatening congenital heart defect. Since her early 20s, Levine has also suffered from Raynaud’s disease, a disorder that causes the arteries that feed her fingers and toes to collapse in cold weather, stripping her of feeling in her extremities for up to an hour at a time, which makes her accomplishments all the more remarkable.

“Actually, the thing that wills me forward is just knowing that no matter how bad things get, you have to keep going. You may have to change direction, and that’s OK, but you can’t just stop in your tracks and give up,” she said. “I’ve learned you don’t have to be the best or the smartest or the fastest to be successful. But you do have to be proactive about going after the things you want – nothing is ever going to fall in your lap.

“If you have a strong sense of morals and ethics, and you’re willing to work hard, you’re going to be just fine.”

To add to her long list of accolades, she also has an Master’s in Business Administration degree from Duke and has worked on Wall Street, was the deputy finance director for Arnold Schwarzenegger in his successful gubernatorial bid in California and is the founder of a consulting firm called DareDevil StrategiesTM. In 2005, she founded the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of jobless women in Africa by training them to be trekking guides and porters in their local mountains so they will have the skills to earn a sustainable living wage through climbing-related tourism.

Levine also serves as an adjunct professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point where she teaches in the Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership. She is current writing a book on leadership.

“You have to be failure-tolerant if you are going to take risks. Failure can be a good thing as long as you learn from it and you are better as a result,” she said.

WVU students will participate in many events to take part in during Welcome Week. For more information on events each day next week, visit http://welcomeweek.wvu.edu/.

Incoming students, make sure to follow @WVUToday on Twitter. We will be asking questions throughout Move-In Day, New Student Welcome and Welcome Week.

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WELCOME WEEK SCHEDULE

MOVE-IN DAY – FRIDAY, AUG. 17
6:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. – PRT transportation available
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Residence hall check-in
5 p.m. – Mandatory Floor Meeting – All residence halls
5:30-7 p.m. – Welcome Cookouts – Student Rec Center & Mountainlair Plaza

FIRST YEAR ACADEMY EVENTS – SATURDAY, AUG. 18
9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – Breakfast, lunch – Cafe Evansdale, Boreman Bistro, Summit
9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. – PRT transportation available
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Student Services Days – Second floor Mountainlair
1-5 p.m. – Academic Department Visits and Discover! WVU Libraries – Mandatory event for first-year students
3:30-6:30 p.m. – Dinner – Cafe Evansdale, Boreman Bistro, Summit
5-9 p.m. – Mountaineer Shopportunity – University Town Center (Buses depart from Mountainlair and Towers)

WVU WELCOME DAY – SUNDAY, AUG. 19
9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Breakfast, lunch – Cafe Evansdale, Boreman Bistro, Summit
Noon to 5 p.m. – Poster Sales – Mountainlair Vandalia Lounge
2-3 p.m. – New Student Welcome – WVU Coliseum – Mandatory event for first-year students
3:30-6:30 p.m. – Dinner – Cafe Evansdale, Boreman Bistro, Summit, Burger King, Tazikis, Quizno
4-7 p.m. – VolleyPallooza – Rec Center fields
8-9 p.m. – Mandatory floor meeting

YOUR FIRST DAY! – MONDAY, AUG. 20
6 a.m. to 6 p.m. – U-92 campus radio live remote – Front of Mountainlair
6:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. – PRT transportation available
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Student Services Days – Second floor Mountainlair
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – OIT (Office of Information Technology) information – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Welcome Week informational fair and activities – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – “Ask the Experts”- stationed throughout campus
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Poster Sale – Mountainlair Vandalia Lounge
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Commuter Pizza Party – Commuter Lounge/Purinton House
7:30 p.m. – FallFest – Mountainlair Plaza

ASK THE EXPERTS – TUESDAY, AUG. 21
6:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. – PRT transportation available
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Welcome Week informational fair and activities – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – OIT (Office of Information Technology) information – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – “Ask the Experts” – stationed around campus
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Poster Sale – Mountainlair Vandalia Room
2-4 p.m. – Commuter Ice Cream Social – Commuter Lounge/Purinton House

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY! – WEDNESDAY, AUG. 22
6:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. – PRT transportation available
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. – OIT (Office of Information Technology) information – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to noon – Commuter Open House – Commuter Lounge/Purinton House
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Welcome Week Informational Fair and activities – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Poster Sale – Mountainlair Vandalia Lounge
4-6 p.m. – Rec Center clubs and sports informational tables – Student Rec Center
4-6 p.m. -Free cholesterol screenings- Student Rec Center
4-6 p.m. -Free chair massages- Student Rec Center
5:30-7 p.m. – Welcome Week zumba – Student Rec Center
WELLWVU Activities TBD

MULTICULTURAL DAY – THURSDAY, AUG. 23
6:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. – PRT transportation available
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. – OIT (Office of Information Technology) information – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Poster aale – Mountainlair Vandalia Lounge
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Welcome Week Multicultural Program activities – Mountainlair Commons
Special Multicultural Dishes – Residence hall Dining halls

TRADITIONS DAY – FRIDAY, AUG. 24
6:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. – PRT transportation available
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – OIT (Office of Information Technology) information – Mountainlair Commons
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Poster sale – Mountainlair Vandalia Lounge
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – WVU Traditions events – Mountainlair Commons
7:30 p.m. – Mountaineer Idol preview – Mountainlair Commons
9 p.m. to 1 a.m. – WVUp All Night – Mountainlair Commons

COMMUNITY SERVICE DAY – SATURDAY, AUG. 25
6:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. – PRT transportation available
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Sprint, Splash, Spin – Habitat for Humanity. Students can find out more information about this service program through race@moncountyhabitat.org
9 p.m. to 1 a.m. – WVUp All Night – Mountainlair Commons

-WVU-

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