- Samantha

Alaska Is...  

              Alaska is so much more than just the 49th state to be added to this great country of ours. It’s a home not only to its residents and wildlife, but it makes a permanent mark on all of those who are lucky enough to gaze upon its vast glory. All it takes is one trip here and suddenly you feel as if you have discovered a part of yourself you never knew existed.
            “Home is where the heart is” that’s what they say. I believe everyone considers Alaska their home in some way because it has this incredible ability to capture your heart.

Final Reflections

With each passing year we all grow older, wiser and more aware of how small we really are compared to the world around us. On this trip I have loved and hated, I have gained family and lost friends forever to the inevitable end we will all face someday. This trip has taught me many things, and not only how to feed 80 people with only two gas stoves. It’s taught me how to be a leader, how to climb a mountain, how to swim across North Pole waters, how to run 6.2 miles straight, how to appreciate all the little things, how to take a moment and just listen, how to look past a persons exterior and look at the beauty within. I learned how to say goodbye. Sadly this was my s=lesson for this year. After 5 unforgettable years, it is my time to say goodbye to the mountains, rivers, valleys, trees, and all the things that make Alaska the breathtaking place it is.
I have been coming here since I was a little 8th grader, scared at the thought of starting high school, and now I am at a whole new chapter as I prepare to start college and as I say goodbye to family and friends. I must leave this place and people who have carved a permanent place in my heart. I will never forget the first time I climbed Healy or Exit, or the first time I ran out to the field at Seaside. With each place we have visited this year, I remember the times I had been there before and not only how the land had changed, but how I have changed. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and I have come to this conclusion, if I keep saying goodbye and it’s the end, nothing could be further from the truth.
I will never say goodbye to Alaska, because there is no way in hell that this is my last trip. I will continue t journey to Alaska until the inevitable grasps me also.