Day 18: Week 3 Reflection

Today was a much more quiet week than the previous two. It was a mixture of week one and week two because we did things both on and off campus, so it was a nice way to wrap up and summarize everything that we have done. In terms of hiking we have done easier trails on the most part, but time wise we did not fall behind when compared to the other two weeks. I have personally enjoyed this week a lot because although we did not go to very different places each day and our explorations really narrowed down to the Proctor woodlot I found that I had time to prioritize the other part of our senior project, which is reading and writing. In particular writing and reflecting, because I have had more alone time both hiking and to free write on my journal, and this has allowed me to really think about my past here at Proctor and what my future is going to be like, at least for the next five years. 

I find that this week was really about reflections. I’ve though about many things; some I wrote in my journal, other times my mind was going too fast tying things together and I just sat in the woods pondering. But I find that I have come more in contact with myself, if that makes sense. I took time to listen to what I thought, to analyze why I though in a certain way, to just hear myself out, which sounds so basic but I realize now that I don’t do this often enough. I was away from technology, away from people (including Daisy some days) for hours and hours, and I just though on what I like, why I like it, and what I am going to do to keep protecting the things I enjoy in the future.

I think that although we did visit some beautiful places this week, like the Bulkhead (I don’t think my journey at Proctor would have been complete without our visit to the Bulkhead) the most meaningful thing I did this week was think. Graduation is so close now, and I am so very glad that I had time to adjust and prepare myself for this great change; great both because it is a significant change and because it will bring many opportunities, and I want to be mentally open to explore each and every single one of them. 

Now that I have taken the time to hear myself out I feel like I know myself better, and I am more ready to graduate (although it still feels like a really bittersweet moment).