An Adventure of a Lifetime by Haley

An Adventure of a Lifetime by Haley - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

At the beginning of my junior year, an opportunity arose for a small group of girls and guys to go on the adventure of a lifetime with Young Life. The trip was all the way to Colorado to climb a mountain during the summer. I told myself that I could never do something like that. The thought of being away from the outside world scared me. Throughout my junior year, I often found myself feeling lost with my various friend groups and many illnesses and deaths that had happened in our family. Every Monday at Younglife, I kept hearing about this once in a lifetime trip to climb a mountain. One of those Mondays, after several weeks, I decided on the spot that this was something I needed to do. On the day of the sign-ups, I made sure I was there early to get a spot on this trip. In the months leading up to the trip, I was told by all my friends and family I was crazy for wanting to go on something like this. Until the day we left, I had really blocked it out of my mind that I was doing something so out of my comfort zone.
The group of 9 from my high school loaded up the bus and began the drive to Colorado overnight. When we arrived at the camp the next day, cheerful workers welcomed us. That's when it really sunk in hard that I was about to do this. We all packed our backpacks that we would be carrying all week together, and I started to get very anxious. A van drove us to the trailhead, where we would start the hike. By the time we made it to the trailhead, it was pouring rain. We walked in the rain until we found our campsite for the night. Around dinner time, the rain stopped, and we all ate dinner together. In the next two days, we got into a routine of eating breakfast, then hiking until we found our campsite for the night. Those first days were brutal on me both mentally and physically. The air was thin, and I struggled to keep up with the group. But nothing compared to the struggle of peak day.
On peak day, we woke up at 4 am to start our hike to reach the top. The first thing we had to do was cross a freezing cold river, with only the light of our headlamps. I started that morning crying from exhaustion from the previous days. After crossing the river, we started going straight up the mountain. The rocks were very slippery, and I was moved to the front of the group so I could keep up. When we started reaching higher altitude, it became a lot harder to breathe. Each step I took was so exhausting, I wondered how my body could even go any further. Then the group reached an area full of sharp rocks. I stood back to watch as all my friends struggled to make it up this path. When it was my turn to go, I got half-way up the sharp rocks, and I started to slip. I slid and felt each of those sharp rocks stab into my skin. The guides caught my legs and were able to stop me from sliding anymore. At this point, I was hysterical, short of breath, and balling. The guides then told me a saying that I will never forget “present suffering brings future glory”. When I finally calmed down, I was able to make it up the path with those rocks. From that point, I realized I was on this trip for a reason. I was there to be shown I am not lost, and I have a purpose in life. As we got closer to the top, I was no longer tired and scared of what was to come. In the last walk up to the summit, the group all held hands and walked to the peak together. When we reached the top, we all screamed that we had finally made it. The guides gave us some time just to sit and reflect. While looking out at the breathtaking view, I cried tears of joy, and I knew that this trip would forever have an impact on my life. What this trip taught me was no matter how hard you think something is, you can achieve it with lots of hard work. Even though the hard work can feel like a never-ending battle, you can always find a way to work it out. I am so glad that I found Young life, and I'm so grateful for what this organization has done for my life.