Into the Mountains

This past Saturday, the SMCM cohort went to the mountains. You heard me, the ALPS!!! For the first time in my life, I got to hike around REAL mountains that towered thousands of feet above me head. When we arrived in one of the small towns that borders the National Park of Gran Paradiso, it was so cold that it actually started snowing. Snow while in the mountains….it was just too much for me. 

Before we started hiking, we went to a small cafe where we had coffee and hot chocolate. If I could, I would open my own small cafe in that little town. Life just seemed so slow and peaceful; I really didn’t want to leave. We started out hiking around the lake but my Econ professor and I went on ahead and starting hiking up one of the mountains. Due to the cold, the rest of the group wanted to leave at two so our side hike was short. (Since we arrived at 11, we only spent three hours in the mountains. That is the last time I go on a physically demanding trip with the other students.) However, Don and I talked a lot about St. Mary’s College politics, academia, and my future career paths. I really like Don and basically I am a younger version of him by about 45 years. If I do turn out like him I will not complain; he is a great professor and person.

I got some great shots of the landscape and scenery. I sometimes can’t believe that I am actually here in Europe. Today, I was actually looking up flights to Rome for my December trip. 

This trip has also been a great time to reflect about my future, both at St. Mary’s and beyond. Today, I sent a email to my boss in Residence Life informing her that I was not coming back to staff in the Spring. After looking at my schedule for next semester, I decided that being an RA would be extra work that wouldn’t bring me any additional happiness. I spent a lot of time thinking about this but in the end, I decided that I must be mature and say enough is enough. If not, I will just end junior year as burnt out as I was at the end of sophomore year.

I also decided on a general topic for my SMP; I will be focusing on the Public Policy of Education and how it affects our schools. I still need to find a focus so any of you teachers or educators reading this, please send me comments or ideas to my email at atwalls@smcm.edu. 

Tomorrow we are visiting a wine museum and the surrounding vineyards. I will upload pictures tomorrow of both the Alps and the museum. I am going to call it a night so I hope you all have a great rest of the day.

Ciao