Inspiration

I have this friend named Meagan. She's one of those people who is somehow smart, funny, beautiful, friendly, charismatic, easygoing and committed to making the world at better place.

I didn't really know these things about Meagan last year - although I suspected - because we didn't really talk much in residence. But sometime last spring, we struck up a conversation on the minibus and she told me about her summer plans. She was, as many of you know and some of you may have guessed, going to Nicaragua with BaseCamp to learn Spanish and volunteer in a hospital. I was blown away! That someone just finishing their first year of university had taken the initiative to find a program, give up a summer of work and go to a strange new country to volunteer was amazing to me, and so inspirational!

Kind of. I read Meagan's blog diligently throughout her trip, but while I was trying to live through her experience a little bit, that spark of "That could be me!" went away after that day on the minibus. I couldn't see myself actually doing what she did; I didn't think I had the guts.

Until November. Because, you see, I have this other friend named Cathleen. She, too, is a smart, funny, beautiful (etc) person that I worked with in a very special place one summer. We have a lot in common, and it was a big deal for me when she told me once that I reminded her of when she was younger. (If I'm like Cath when I'm her age, I'd say I'll be doing pretty darn well!) She and I are both fans of lists and order and knowing what's going on all the time; when we were working together, I would hardly have called either of us adventurous. This is why I could hardly believe it when she went on a decidedly adventurous trip to South America! I had always had it in my head that exciting backpacking trips and exotic travel were for free-spirited wild children - and I am anything but!

Still, when Cathleen went on that trip, it occurred to me: I could do that. And when I decided in November that I did want to go on a trip, I remembered Meagan and thought - Hey. I could do that!

So I'm going to.
Thanks, girls.