September 2, 2026
By Mia Everding (’20, ’22)
Growing up in Kearney, Nebraska, Griffin Mims fell in love with the outdoors. As a child to two professors at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, he grew an appreciation for travel from a young age. Studying at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln let him dream big and when he graduated with a degree in communications and global studies, he didn’t wait long to start chasing those goals. Four days after graduation in August 2019, he moved to the Lake Tahoe, Calif. area, having never visited the region before. He worked part-time jobs with a camera in hand, honing his craft and working toward a career in adventure travel and storytelling. Last year, he summited Mount Everest with Alpenglow Expeditions, a mountain guiding service company where he works as an international client manager.
What brought you to Lincoln?
I applied to some other schools out of state, but when I visited Lincoln’s campus, it just felt like home right away. I was doing my campus tour and ran into a friend from high school and seeing her walk across campus made it feel like a place I was already familiar with. I joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and that was an amazing experience. My first week as a freshman, I went to the Outdoor Adventure Center and just fell in love with climbing. That really sparked a journey for me in becoming more engaged with the climbing and outdoor community.
What else at the university set you up for your career and life now?
I thought I wanted to work in student affairs and through getting my dream job of being a New Student Enrollment orientation leader, I realized that while I would have loved that life, I wanted to do something different. I did an exchange program with a company called the National Outdoor Leadership School in the first semester of my senior year in Patagonia, Chile, and my second semester, I was in the Czech Republic. I had gotten everything I thought I was going to get from the university in my first three years and that really set me up to chase this dream of going elsewhere and going outside.
How likely did a career storytelling and traveling feel?
It felt really far away. The hardest thing to do when you’re chasing a dream is to start — it feels impossible. I was on the University Program Council, so I brought Chris Burkard, a photographer who inspired me to buy my first camera, to campus to give a workshop and screen his film. We’re not isolated in Nebraska, but we’re definitely not in the mix of the climbing community. To meet him made this dream feel real; there are people out here who are doing things that I want to do, and all I have to do is do it. It’s been a lot of hard work to make this thing happen.
You had dreamed of summiting Everest for 10 years. How was the experience?
It was surreal. There’s a spot on Everest where you can see the summit and all the hard climbing is done and you know you’re going to summit…that was the point I was trying to get to. If I got there, I was going to summit. Getting to that point felt so gratifying. The culmination of effort and sacrifice and passion in being able to stand on the top felt really gratifying in that moment, at that corner, looking to the summit. After summiting, I was crying as I walked back down to Advanced Base Camp, just in belief that I’d done it.
How did your community encourage you in the last 10 years?
My friends really supported my dreams and gave me the affirmation that I could go do these things. When you say you’re from Nebraska, your mind doesn’t automatically go to someone who’s going to summit Everest one day. That supportive community enabled me to have confidence in moving to a new place, to make new friends and work for a company I’d always wanted to work for.
What encouragement or reminders would you tell your younger self?
Be open to where the university can take you. Looking back at my college days, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to change because of all the different things that the university threw at me. The OAC is a building that literally changed the course of my life forever. I have no idea where my life would be if I hadn’t gone into that building. Trying to give my old self or anyone advice, if you find something even remotely interesting, go try it. Go sit in at that club or go line-dancing or climbing — you have no idea what love and passion will stem from if you try new things. The university is incredible at being able to give those opportunities to people.
How did being a Husker help you in accomplishing your dreams so far?
I’m so grateful for my time at the university. I met my best friends there and my biggest passions in life there. I found a love for something that doesn’t exist in the state, basically, because the university was there. I lived my biggest life goals because of the lessons I learned and the people I met there. Anyone who’s at the university should know they have every opportunity to build the life they want to live.
What would you say to someone who’s chasing a dream that seems out of reach?
I think you have to give yourself the grace to fail. It just takes action and grace and failing and shifting dreams. You’re never going to do what you want to do unless you actually try, so go do, do, do, go. Open the door and walk through it. It’s hard, but it’s way worth it when you do.
Griffin returns to campus on November 6 for the Outdoor Adventure Center's Beyond Adventure speaker series.
