Cycles

The Gilmans Corner Group taking a rest.

As the course ends and students head off to their dorms and parents I'm reminded of how student stories go through cycles.

Right now is perhaps the most pure and honest version of the story in all it's rawness. Was it hard, terrible, beautiful, challenging, tearful, awesome? You'll probably hear about it!

After a few hours and days the story starts to change. Blisters grow larger, miles longer, weather tougher. As students return to campus in the fall our (now junior) students will begin training up the new sophomores in the SophX mystique.

The remarkable thing is that by the time our students become seniors they want to return to the expedition! It seems the hardships and bruises have faded from memory and the friends, laughs, victories and good memories are all that remain.

Some times stories go in cycles. This year I've had the pleasure of working with Ted (8th year on the trip), Russ (5th year on the trip), Megan (second year on the trip after doing it as a student in 2002), and many senior student leaders. What are their stories?

I hope the stories you hear are wonderful, I'll bet they will involve hardship and triumph. And they will continue to grow and change and go through cycles.

PS: When I have pictures I'll put them on flickr for download and put a slides how here!