Kroka Pre-Trip

Going to the Kroka base camp in marlow, NH this past weekend brought the semester to life for me. There are only a few months left before I will be back in Marlow, and three weeks later, I'll be in Ecuador!

It was awesome to meet the people I'll be living with for 15 weeks next fall and get a sense for how Kroka works. I got to the pre-trip weekend late because I had a field trip with my AP Bio class on Friday and Saturday, but I got to spend the evening and this morning with the group. All but three of the students were there and I already feel like they are good friends.

We had a delicous dinner and took a quiet reflectional walk to the beaver pond before sitting down around a fire and sharing our hopes, fears and thoughts about the upcoming semester. What struck me most about being there was that there was so much space to think and process my feelings. Even though we were doing something most of the time-building a fire, cooking, picking greens, running, swimming-there was no distraction from the rush of society to keep me from experiencing the moment. I look forward to having this great space to grow in during the semester.

All the time that I was there, I thought of all the people who have made this trip a reality for me. When I was walking across the beautiful fields, sleeping in little hobbit-hole like yurts covered in grass, and talking with my future adventure classmates, everyone who has supported me in some way was there with me too. Without the amazing community of friends, neighbors, teachers and family that I have been blessed with, none of this could happen. When I wrote Kroka another check for tuition, it was not my hand that signed it, but the hand of many, many people who have stepped out of their way to help me pursue this dream.

There is still a good bit of fund raising and work to do this summer, but if the past six months are any indicator for what the next three will be, I am definitely going to Ecuador. Thank you all!