First-Year Launch is a signature part of your first-year experience

In Fall 2026, students will be able to select from a freestanding Launch class or from a Launch class linked to another LAC course.

Freestanding Launch courses

  • Complete this 1 credit course in 8 weeks
  • Explore a topic you’re interested in, build community, and learn strategies to thrive at FLC

LAC Linked Launch courses

Complete your Launch course and a general education requirement

  • Explore the Launch courses outcomes in the context of an LAC course (for example, learn academic skills while practicing them in a research project)
  • Enjoy extended time for community building and experiential learning
  • Deepen connections with a cohort of peers and a faculty instructor

Field trips to Purgatory Resort

 
First-Year Launch

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Wayfinding Your College Journey

Day/Time: M/W 2:30-3:25

Learn how to make the most of your college journey by starting with yourself. This course combines self-awareness, career exploration, and life design to help you make intentional choices during your first year. You’ll explore your values, strengths, and interests, connect with others, and consider majors and careers—not as fixed destinations, but as possibilities. This is about learning how to navigate decisions, embrace curiosity, and author your own story.


Wayfinding Your College Journey

Day/Time: W/F 2:30-3:25

Learn how to make the most of your college journey by starting with yourself. This course combines self-awareness, career exploration, and life design to help you make intentional choices during your first year. You’ll explore your values, strengths, and interests, connect with others, and consider majors and careers—not as fixed destinations, but as possibilities. This is about learning how to navigate decisions, embrace curiosity, and author your own story.


Wilderness Survival (FLC100) & Spirit of Adventure (AE 105-1)

Day/Time: F 1:25-3:25

Spirit of Adventure (AE 105) and Wilderness Survival (FLC 100) are a Launch course innovation that blends hands on wilderness survival skills with big questions about culture, identity, and the human relationship to land. Students learn through experience by building fire, shelter, and confidence, while reflecting on how adventure shapes growth and community. Active, experiential, and reflective, these courses invite students to face life and school with curiosity, connection, and purpose.

FYL Course LAC Linked


Yes And!

Day/Time: W 3:35-5:35

In this interactive First Year Launch course, you will explore the key principles of improv comedy - like collaboration, active listening, and thinking on your feet - to build confidence, learn some of the how to college finer points, strengthen communication skills, and foster a sense of belonging here at FLC. Through games, scenes, and reflective discussions, you will connect with peers, have the opportunity to lean in to your creativity, and learn how the “yes, and” mindset can support academic growth, resilience, and meaningful engagement at school and beyond. No performance experience required - just a willingness to jump in and say “yes!”


Yoga Journaling

Day/Time: M 1:25-3:25

This course immerses students in the practice of yoga journaling, offering a holistic approach to personal development, self-discovery, and mindfulness. Through a combination of yoga techniques and journaling exercises, students will explore the connection between mind and body, self-awareness, resilience, and overall well-being.


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Contact us

Admission Office

Fort Lewis College
1000 Rim Drive
Durango, CO 81301

Phone: 877-352-2656 or 970-247-7184
Fax: 970-247-7179
Email: admission@fortlewis.edu

Talk with admission counselor

Connect with your admission counselor over the phone, in email, or take a campus tour and meet them in person.

Schedule an appointment