This network reached a quarter of a million students through the Internet, which was 5% of the online market at the time, and newspaper publications ran for 11 weeks and reached 13 million readers. SitesALIVE! was the first online interactive learning experience at the time of its creation.

Accounts of his latest expedition in March were published in 50 U.S. newspapers and broadcast to schoolchildren in 15 other nations, including China, Taiwan, Australia, Italy, and Argentina.

“It’s a transforming experience for [the students] to virtually go out into the real world and experience things,” Wilson says.

And real world experience Wilson certainly has.

**

Sailor by day, math teacher, Washington defense analyst, technical consultant in Saudi Arabia, and writer for the Dukakis campaign by night?

Well, not in the literal sense. But Wilson has served in all of these roles at some point in his life.

He was a math teacher in the Boston public schools during the first year of desegregation, a Washington defense analyst on B-52s and cruise missiles, a technical consultant for power and desalination plants in Saudi Arabia, and a writer for Michael Dukakis’ presidential campaign.

He holds three long-distance world sailing records. His book, Racing a Ghost Ship, won the Scientific American Young Readers Book Award. His MIT master’s thesis on the Antarctic Krill Fishery spawned legislation in Congress to build a fisheries research vessel capable of traveling to the Antartic.

“Who would’ve thought my thesis would be used as research for a congressional bill?” Wilson laughs.

His wide array of interests have led him to not only pursue his passions but also excel in each one, and he encourages Harvard undergraduates to do the same.

“Expose yourself to as many cultures and disciplines as you can,” Wilson advises. “You have the opportunity to do whatever you want—an opportunity that others might not have. Don’t be swayed by the idea of making a lot of money or studying something simply because your parents did.”

And he understands that finding that perfect fit takes time.

“I knew my role would be in education, and I knew I would be a teacher somehow, but I wanted to reach more students,” Wilson reflects. “It just took awhile to find the niche that suited.”

Despite his achievements, Wilson continues to take on risky yet admirable feats to achieve his ultimate goal—to show kids that there are no limits in life.