A “Gap Year” Takes Mackenzie Murray ’10 to Central America
Posted by Kate Haviland
Having decided to take a year to travel before enrolling at the University of Vermont, Mackenzie Murray ’10 is starting with three months in Central America. She will hike (pictured above with friends), do a variety of community service projects and live with local families in Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Continuing the spanish studies she began at Unquowa and followed through high school, Mackenzie hopes to return from this adventure truly fluent. Buen viaje, Mackenzie!
The following is a poem she posted online during her first week in Nicaragua.
Why do we trek?
We trek because
we can step into someone else’s shoes.
We can lose ourselves, then find ourselves.
We can walk with las vacas, our only companions on the vast,
verde sheets of montanas.
Because nothing replaces the sweaty sensation of a steep incline.
Because by car, we pass it all too quickly.
Because we take mobility for granted.
Because the vistas are more beautiful
when you’ve hiked up their neighbors.
We trek because we can experience hot, sticky air,
cool mountain breeze, and thundering lluvia, all in the same day.
Because water has a special flavor for those who sweat for it.
Because the clay caked to our shoes
clings for a reason.
To see how far we can push ourselves.
We trek to be one with our world,
which we so often forget to appreciate.
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