Story by Meghan Furlong
My first day of college was the last day of my freshman orientation backpacking trip in West Virginia. It began waking up to the smell of sweat and dirty feet. I rolled over on my hard ground mat and nudged my friend’s shoulder to wake her up. My friend and I then proceeded to grudgingly take down the tent we slept in on college campus the night before. We hobbled over to our heavy 30-pound backpacks and shoved the tent into our bags one last time. Giddy with excitement, my friend and I ran to our new dorms to meet our families and move in. As I started college, I was excited for the basic necessities. Weird, right? A typical college freshman might be excited to decorate their dorm room, meet new friends and take interesting classes; I was most excited for running water, a shower and a hot meal.
(Gif from Tumblr)
As I started to move my stuff into my new dorm room I thought back to what I experienced on the backpacking trip I just completed. Hiking for several days in the wilderness of West Virginia was quite an adventure. I experienced everything from learning how to overcome the challenge of walking up a mountain for miles in an immense amount of pain to learning how to properly use the bathroom in the middle of the woods. However, these challenges I faced were all worth it. If I gave up and did not push myself up the mountain, then I would have never seen the stunning views. If I decided to not backpack to the end of the trip I would have never had the privilege of getting to know eight amazing individuals. Yes, my backpack weighed half as much as me, yes, I smelled like I was coated in manure and yes, my feet were practically made out of blisters afterwards. However, none of that mattered because without that experience, I would not have had the appreciation and perspective I experienced when moving into college my first day.
(Gif from hellogiggles.com)
When I was nervous about finding my way around campus on the first day of classes, I thought of being in the wilderness and how hard it was to try and find the campsite. When I realized one of my classes was across campus and I had to carry my books, I remembered my 30-pound backpack and laughed instead of letting myself get anxious. I did not care that my dorm bathroom was not the cleanest on campus because it had running water. I did cry the first day of classes because I missed home, but I got over it because I knew that every challenge ended in a beautiful view and that I would reach the top of the mountain eventually.