Quite often, I have found myself staring down the barrel of a decision that, however daunting, would have the possibility to change the course of my life. Prior to my term with ACE, I had just come off of a freshman year at the University of Georgia that involved a major change in what I thought the rest of my life would look like. I had been committed to the idea of going to medical school since I was eleven, and the thought of changing this seemed unthinkable. For months, as I trudged through Chemistry and Biology, I told myself that it was okayβ I would do what I truly loved and aligned with later in life.
One of my courses was taught by my now friend and mentor, Dr. Kyle Woosnam. It sparked joy, simply put. I was enamored. I changed my major to Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, and finished up with my last core classes. At the same time that this was happening, I had been looking for a position for the summer that would allow me to fully explore my passions regarding the outdoors. After an application, interview, and a few weeks of waiting, I heard back right before I left my dorm to take one of my final Chemistry exams.
Not knowing what hybridized orbitals were was the last thing on my mind. I left in the middle of a simmering May and arrived at the Phoenix airport with a suitcase and my pack, thousands of miles away from home.
After a shuttle ride through an expanse of desert and alpine forest, I stood in front of a small yellow house on a narrow street across from an elementary schoolβ where I was to live for the next three months. It was in this home that I fostered some of the closest connections I have ever experienced. Trips to the grocery store felt as fun as going to the carnival, and the dinners that followed, crafted by the hands of once-strangers and enjoyed in the living rooms of our respective homes, were full of love.
It was come one, come all, and I got used to skipping across the courtyard to visit my friends in the two houses that stood across from mine.
