PA - AT??

Dear Coley,

    Today was my first day! (well, orientation). Other than mother nature trying to drown Philadelphia, it was a success.  What was not a success, was my attempt to wait for the bus, ride the bus, and then walk the four blocks to my apartment without getting completely soaked. Lesson learned. (I did share my umbrella with a med student.... thought you would be happy to know that my southern training has not been lost). Tomorrow is when the excitement/dread starts...... classes.  Wish me luck!

I wrote something the other day about this whole experience, here you go:

 

I recently read “Becoming Odyssa,” a book by Jennifer Pharr Davis (who just completed the fastest hike of the Appalachian Trial, *46 days and 11 hours, you go girl) about the first time she hiked the trail, as a 21 year old college graduate.  I have also been reading Trail Journals (Nevena “Gangsta” Martin’s is quite entertaining). The Appalachian Trial, from what I have read, is 2,175 miles long and requires incredible strength, stamina, and just pure willpower to complete. Reading the stories of how these two women hiked, and bled, and perspired, and laughed, and ate, and sometimes cried their way from Georgia to Maine has been inspirational and motivating.  I doubt I will ever hike the Appalachian Trail, (maybe some section hikes), but the book and blogs really got me thinking.

This move, from North Carolina to Philadelphia and starting this rigorous program (even though I drove), is like my Appalachian Trail. Don’t get me wrong; moving to Philadelphia for graduate school is nothing physically similar to hiking through fourteen states. However, it is challenge; one that requires a lot of soul searching, emotional, mental, and sometimes physical strength. Everyone’s “journey” in life is different, and mine has definitely not followed that perfect map I plotted out in the 6^th grade. But it is the journey that makes us who we are, blistered and all.  My move to Philadelphia has brought me happiness, and frustration, and sadness, and excitement, and honestly- some heart break (much like the AT).  However, I am sure that the next 16 months will be some of the best of my life.

Jennifer’s belief in God (written about in her book) has been an amazing reminder of where to go for guidance and comfort.  In one chapter she says, describing waking up after a rough night alone in the woods, “But in the morning, things were different. I awoke to discover the sun rising above the mountains and green fields below.”  She then writes, “(God) was communicating to me through the sunrise. The pink said, I am here. The orange said, I am going with you. The gold, the bright gold, said trust in me.”  Again, my experience is very different than someone hiking the AT, heck, it is different than someone else moving to a big city.  But in the end, we are all just working towards fulfilling our purpose on this earth, and maybe seeing some good views on the way. 

All I have to say is, last night I got to see a gorgeous sunset from my window looking over the city, and I felt reassured that this is what I am supposed to be doing. This is where I belong. Bring on the hike…. I mean graduate school!

Love,

Courtney

ps. Did I mention, that other than people they met on the AT.... these women went into their journeys alone?  Yes Ma'am.