Of Mountains and Minds is the manifestation of a seven-year-old kid's dream come true. At seven years old, Vincent entered the line for the Disney World roller coaster “Expedition Everest.” Instantly, he was transfixed by pictures of Mount Everest and the Sherpa people. That day, a passion was born.
 
Returning to Upstate, NY, Vincent downloaded Nepali music on his iPod mini and ran around his yard with a weighted backpack, recording the number of laps in his “Everest Training Log.” Besides Everest, he discovered that there were six other famous peaks, collectively known as the “Seven Summits.” During upstate NY winters, Vincent repeatedly climbed seven snowbanks around his driveway to simulate climbing the real ones. After seeing him rappel from a 50-foot tree instead of climbing just snowbanks, his parents, largely concerned, decided his passion needed some “structure” so they signed him up for the Rocksport climbing summer camp in Queensbury, NY, which led to a successful competitive climbing career representing the United States at the 2018 Youth World Championships in Moscow, Russia. However, little did his parents and others know that he was suffering in silence. Behind his smile was tremendous pain.
 
Vincent was diagnosed with OCD at an early age, around the time he discovered his passion for climbing. Seeing therapists on and off, up through college, he never quite found the right help he needed as he suffered from “Pure OCD,” such that all his compulsions were done mentally. Daily life was painfully difficult as leaving his home was an ordeal, and he even suffered from suicidal thoughts and depression. With the combination of therapy and medicine, his symptoms improved. His semester abroad in Kathmandu, Nepal, studying Buddhism, gave him a whole new perspective on the mind and mental illness. In Nepal, he realized that his childhood dream of climbing the seven summits was deeply tied to Buddhist culture. Vincent remains a faithful Catholic but has been inspired by Buddhist and Hindu teachings, which he believes can help millions of people suffering from OCD and other mental illnesses. 
 
Having graduated summa cum laude from Boston College in the Spring of 2024, Vincent spent a gap year studying and volunteering in his beloved second home, Nepal. He intends to go to law school and become a lawyer. However, one ambition remains: the desire to climb the seven summits, and with that desire begins the Of Mountains and Minds Project... Click below to learn more!