When Rosa asked me to write a blog post about our hiking trip to Mt. Olympus I jumped at the opportunity. Undertaking this hiking trip was one of my goals for this year's study abroad experience, I knew that they would all be familiar with Mt. Olympus and I wanted to give them the opportunity to hike this storied mountain. I fully expected them to enjoy our trek and to be blow away by the beauty that surrounded them. What I did not expect was how much the hiking trip, and our students, would impact me.
In my mind, before we left, I was envisioning starting at the base of the mountain and hiking up as far as we could, then hiking back down. Instead we were taken up into the mountain and dropped off at a monastery. Initially we were going to just undertake a short hike to a cave and back, however, many of the students wanted to hike more so instead our guide suggested we hike down the village at the base of the mountain and our bus would pick us up there.
What we did not know at that time was that it was 7.7 km (just under 5 miles) to the village. At the start of the hike everyone was in good spirits, there was a great deal of laughter, and we stopped to take pictures often. As the heat of the day wore on, and we were, seemingly, no closer to the base students began to get sore, tired, and cranky. As I look back on the day with fresh eyes (and no longer sore, tired, and cranky myself) that's when I see what was truly awe inspiring about the day.
Our students.
Many of them had only hiked a time or two in their lives, they were wearing tennis shoes and at best athletic gear, and they were not mentally prepared for what ended up being a five hour hike. And yet, they made it down that mountain. They encouraged one another, they shared their food and water, they lifted one another up, literally at times, and they finished the hike. Together, as a family.
I think this trip meant so much to me because it so perfectly encapsulates what I love about Horizons. Our students are often faced with seemingly impossible challenges, and under the banner of Horizons they meet those challenges headfirst. They find the connections, and the family, they need not just to survive but to thrive. They are the embodiment of perseverance and they demonstrated that on the mountain. Olympus National Park is an absolutely stunning place, but the beauty of that place is nothing compared to the memory I'll cherish of my students succeeding together.
"Tricky stream crossing"
"The group at one of the many bridges"
"The same bridge, this time with context"
"Towards the end of the hike, our energy was a little low"
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