Boulder gave Will Dundon something he never expected—a place to finally find himself. When a health complication shattered his childhood dream, he landed at the University of Colorado Boulder with no plan and no expectations. What he found was home.

Often times, we idealize our futures. We decide what we want to do, who we want to be and where we want to go. The vision becomes stronger and stronger, and the attachment to it so visceral we couldn’t possibly fathom the fearful uncertainty of things not going according to plan. But one of the most beautiful things in life, albeit terrifying, is that uncertainty. The world of possibility that opens up when you stop holding on so tight and just start living. For Will, that meant letting go and embracing the glow of Boulder’s morning sunrise.

So, who is Will Dundon? Every friend group has that one friend who always goes with the flow. Will is that friend. He’s the first person you see in any room you walk into.

While his road led to Boulder, his story started in New York City. A young Will had his life’s plan shattered as health complications ripped his goal of becoming a D1 Rower from under his feet. He’d been working toward this for years. Losing it left him distraught. What followed was uncertainty. Directionless, but searching. In time, he realized he knew two things. That he wanted to go to a big school, somewhere he could meet a lot of people and one that had a strong business program. One day he was hanging out with his friend, Matt. Matt had a brother, a brother who went to CU Boulder. And Matt, as any Buff would do, “gave the pitch of a lifetime, without even trying.” An ocean of students, a top 20 business program, a culture rich with community and the mountains just steps away, Will saw it as “a dream come true.” But to understand what Boulder gave him, you have to understand what rowing took.

In his rowing days, Will brought determination and discipline to honing his craft. And with discipline, comes sacrifice. His routine was so: wake up for early morning training, go to school, go to practice, do some homework, go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. This left little time to explore, connect and find himself. In the wake of life’s unpredictability, Will found all these things and more in sunny Boulder, Colorado. Just not all at once.

Farrand Field

As good things often go, Will’s footing took time. He described Boulder as a “slow-burn”. Entering college at the brink of Covid, Will took his first year online, not stepping foot on campus until the following year. And when that time came, boy, was it magic. The ethos of Boulder’s open-minded and accepting culture struck him like the fresh scent of pine on a winter’s day. In just a matter of hours, from Denver International airport to walking out onto campus, Will found community immediately. With a year of anticipation, Boulder was everything he could have ever imagined and more. Reminiscing on his early college days, Will spoke of the excitement of wandering campus, meeting people left and right, playing spikeball on Farrand Field and cooling off in Boulder Creek.

Boulder Creek

But realizing Boulder was home, that new dreams were taking form, didn’t happen until a little over a year later. The summer after junior year, Will prepped for his first taste of adult life. The ever-so-coveted first internship. Excited to see old friends as he made the trek back to New York City, he only made it three weeks before the pull of the Rocky Mountains took its grip. This wasn’t just FOMO (Fear of missing out), it was the equivalent of missing a loved one, a longing to return to the grounding he had found in Boulder. In his eyes, “sometimes you have to miss something to realize how much you love it.” Upon returning, a friend picked him up from the airport. As Will recalled, “it was such a beautiful sunny day. I’m driving back and then it hit me. Seeing the Flatirons, that’s when it clicked. This is home, this is where I’m meant to be.”

Today, Will finds himself in a promising early career Corporate Finance Consulting role for BRG in New York City. Now beyond the mountains, back in his home state, Will sees Boulder’s impact on his life as, “a way of thinking.” His transformation is marked by confidence and growth. He keeps his head high and has a deep appreciation of the everyday beauty that surrounds him. Whether that’s striking up a conversation with someone on the street or navigating complex challenges in the office, Boulder has fostered a mindset of approaching life with curiosity and gratitude. As Will puts it, “there’s so much positive that can come from situations that may seem bleak or uninteresting. There’s so much beauty in everything. You just have to look.” And what’s more Boulder than finding the silver-linings in the subtleties of everyday life?

Reid Friedenberg University of Colorado Alumni

Reid Friedenberg is a University of Colorado Boulder alum with a BSBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship and a minor in Creative Technology and Design. From Cleveland to Boulder to New York City, Reid is an early-career creative driven by storytelling, culture, and community. Fashion-obsessed, music-loving, singer-songwriting cinephile and self-proclaimed wino, he pursues creative projects across multiple disciplines. He is especially drawn to work that blends creativity with human connection, and believes the best stories are the ones that make people feel seen.