Overall, my study away experience was one of the most memorable experiences of my life time. I learned a lot, saw a lot, and made a lot of new friends. I notice as I read some of my classmates final blog posts that many of them wrote a kind of love letter to Wyoming. I loved Wyoming. It was unlike any place I have ever been. I will always admire it for its beauty and vastness, but, for me, Wyoming itself is not what I have been reminiscing on since I got on the plane. What I miss most is the people, the experience, and the growth that I was lucky enough to go through in that wonderful state. Growing is often an unpleasant thing to experience. It’s hard, but I have never seen it happen so quickly in myself in my life. If I’m being honest, at times, I hated Wyoming. I hated its beige-ness and its emptiness. I was homesick and I was feeling the thorns of reluctant growth in my sides constantly, but the longer I was there, the easier everything became.
At first, I wasn’t a fan of the prairie or the hiking or the heat, but by the end, I had so many good memories associated with those things, I can’t help but look back on them with a smile. Instead of thinking about the bad things, all I can remember is everyone laughing about how we were all covered in dirt or the euphoria that came when we finally reached the end of the hike. All I can remember now is how much fun we had. The whole group got so close and I became friends with people that I probably would never have even met otherwise. I am grateful to Wyoming for that.
Now that I am back home, I can really see how much I’ve changed. My mindset and perspective have completely shifted. I have way more appreciation for my home in PA and I have way more appreciation for everything Wyoming had to offer me. I am kinder to myself and others now. I feel more confident and ready for anything the universe would like to throw at me. After all, nothing can be worse than the last mile of that 12 mile hike. Academically, I feel more like a scientist and a student. I admire other people’s knowledge about topics I’ve never even thought about and their passion about the nichest of subjects. I know more about presenting myself professionally and more about how to present my research to my peers, mentors, and the public. The instructors were all such a big help. They were all so supportive and caring. I would never have gotten to where I am right now without their help.
From day 1, the instructors started each of us on our own personal journeys. They outlined these principles in our field notebooks, and at first I will admit, I wasn’t sold, but today I know that they were right all along. I’d tell you all what they were, but I haven’t picked up my field notebook yet and honestly I don’t think you’d really get it unless you went to Wyoming with 17 strangers for 6 weeks and slept in a tent in the middle of a field. Wyoming is funny like that. Just know, I plan on utilizing everything I have described in this post for the rest of my life, and if I ever forget, I can always go back to that field… under the stars.
That’s it,
Julia
