There are moments in everyone's life where you need to re-find who you really are. That might be some time away from some certain situations. It might be doing something you love. For me, it was a backpacking trip. Now, I had just been coming off finals. I was insanely stressed out. A lot of my friends were going off to Europe for a choir tour. I didn't really have much to do. One of my really good friends called me and said that there was a spot open on this backpacking trip they had been planning. They would be leaving that Monday. I thought a little and thought why not.

I packed up and drove the hour and a half to where they were meeting. All sorts of feelings were going through my head. Why was I doing this? I could just be home and watch T.V. I could be just talking to friends and hearing about their experiences. I sucked up my fears and anxieties and allowed myself to enter the building where they had met up. I was reintroduced to many of my friends from summer camp. We met the leaders and we had a quick refresher course on how to backpack and how to live in the woods. We soon were off and I had some nerves come back. We hiked until we got to our shelter area and we all jumped on jobs we could do. Another group member and I quickly found a tree and hung the bear bag. We came back to find dinner was being prepared. That night we all sat around the campfire. We were telling testimonies and reflecting on our lives. For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. I felt like I could really do anything. The rest of the week I felt so happy to be in beautiful creation. We spent time hiking in pairs and solo hiking. And by the end of the trip, I didn't want the trip to end.

I had re-found myself after a crazy semester. A semester where a lot of good happened, but also a lot of bad. The most rewarding thing that had happened is when I was about to leave, we all exchanged notes we had written for everyone. As I sit here, writing about my experiences, I'm looking at these notes, and realizing, that people think very highly of me. Something I had really struggled with. I'm ready to take on the summer and the next semester.