Day 7: Back at Proctor

Today we finally got to explore some of the Proctor woodlands. This is actually something that I have really been looking forward to because I have heard such amazing things about the trails we have on campus yet I have barely begun to explore them. Learning more about Proctor and experiencing the campus in a new way is something that I wanted to get out of this senior project, and I think that today was a very good start.
This morning we headed to Mud Pond, which I'd never been to before (Daisy had been there once already). I was surprised to see that the pond was so close to campus and while I was sitting there I realized how lucky I am to be able to go on a short hike and get to this beautiful, secluded place. While we were at Mud Pond I spent most of my time writing on my journal, and I basically reached two conclusions: firstly, being there kind of made me sad, because I finally realized how much I've missed during my four years at Proctor. I have been surrounded by beautiful places such as this and I have only just begun to explore them, and now I only have three weeks until I graduate. So, on one hand, I wish I'd taken more advantage of the woods my previous years. On the other hand, though, I realized how lucky I am to be able to experience this at all, to be given the opportunity to manage myself and to visit these beautiful places, and to be able to have the time and be carefree and just enjoy myself and nature.
         

At some point in my journal free write I got to the topic of privilege. Privilege is something that I think a lot about because I think I am very privileged. I have a family and friends that love me, I have a good home, a great education, I've lived in a good environment, and I have many opportunities for my future. My mom always told me to appreciate everything that I have and right now I am very grateful for everything that Proctor has given me, and today I was reminded to just enjoy these last few weeks and take advantage of every opportunity that I have while I'm still here.

I also got to do a (very rough) sketch of Mud Pond, but I really think I am better with words that with color pencils, so I also wrote a description of Mud Pond and what it felt like to be sitting there. I'm working to have a nice collection of writings by the end of the project so that I can always look back to this moment and remember the good times I had during senior project.
On our way back to campus we decided to take a few random trails that luckily ended taking us back to campus. This was very fun because we just chose a random trail that we wanted to explore and just hiked it. In the afternoon we did something kid of similar. Neither Daisy nor I had ever been to Mega, so we decided to try to find it on our own. This took us quite a few tries because we took some of the trails behind the tennis courts, but we finally made it there. Once we got to Mega I felt pretty sad that I didn't get to see it while it was still standing, but I have hopes because it seems like if someone puts some work into it we could rebuild Mega. I loved seeing that the ground was covered in green grass, that made me feel better. I have talked to some of the juniors, and I think I convinced a few of them to work on this for their senior project, which I am very excited about.