Exactly one year ago today, I found myself hiking toward what would become a 500 mile journey.
I was huffing and puffing and asking what I had gotten myself into.
It turned out, I had gotten myself into what would be the experience of a lifetime.
It changed me for the better.
I didn't plan on writing my account of Skagway on May 15th, one year from the day I started hiking the Appalachian Trail.
It just so happened that today I sat down and decided to write.
And it seems pretty fitting.
For those who don't know, I am a photojournalism major at the University of Florida.
I have worked as a staff photographer for the Independent Florida Alligator, the nation's largest student-run newspaper, a staff photographer for the University of Florida's Levin College of Law, and I am also a wedding photographer. It's safe to say, I keep myself pretty busy.
But when summer started approaching and my fellow students began applying for internships, I decided I couldn't sit around Gainesville for another summer.
I needed to get my hands dirty.
I could have walked the trail again - pick up where I'd left off.
And originally, I'd planned on it.
But as the school year dragged on, I realized I wanted to continue telling stories, but not necessarily in your average, run-of-the-mill internship.
I wanted to be surrounded by beauty.
And that's when I discovered The Skagway News.
Freshman year of college, I had the pleasure of meeting Katie Emmets, a friend of a friend.
We met at a dance club in Gainesville and exchanged a few hellos and how-are-yous.
And that was that.
A few nights later I added her on Facebook. Because that's what you do with people you've met just once. Right?
Fast forward to what should have been my senior year. (I'm going to be a fifth-year senior. Holla if you feel me!)
I was enrolled in Advanced Photo I, with professor Daron Dean, a staff photographer for the St. Augustine Record. The class quickly became friends with Daron, and we learned of his summers spent in Alaska.
This got my mind wandering.
A summer in Alaska. Sounded right up my alley.
So I started inquiring.
Daron told me the Anchorage Daily News wasn't hiring interns anymore.
There weren't too many big time papers apart from that.
My mind went back to Katie Emmets. The friend of a friend I'd met in a bar and creepily added on Facebook days later.
She worked at a newspaper in Alaska.
So I messaged her, asking her how she'd arrived in this little town and found a position at its paper.
And before you know it, I was applying to a summer internship in the little town of Skagway, as a reporter and photographer.
I didn't have much writing experience, other than the few stories I had written for the Alligator.
And this internship was based heavily in reporting. I doubted whether or not I would get it.
It came down to me and eight other applicants.
This was later narrowed down to three.
Me, an Alaskan (who had already graduated college) and a guy who had previously interned in South Africa.
Just a little discouraging.
So I waited.
Spring Break rolled around, and I boarded the Carnival Imagination with my best friends.
The day the ship docked back in Miami, I checked my voicemail.
I had one.
And just like that, my dreams of an Alaskan summer were crushed.
They'd picked the Alaskan native.
But I was told not to give up hope just yet. She hadn't said yes or no.
But I had given up hope.
I called my dad crying. I was devastated.
I didn't talk about it, not wanting to jinx any chances I may still have.
I emailed the editor, wondering if there had been any news.
Four days seemed like weeks.
I thought they had forgotten about me.
And then the call came.
They had chosen me as their summer intern. The Alaskan native had been too unsure and I scooped up the opportunity.
The rest is history.
Spring semester flew by.
And before I knew it, I found myself saying goodbye to friends, some for the last time, closing up my apartment for the summer and packing my bags.
My dad drove me to Orlando, and I boarded a plane to Denver. I found myself sitting next to a classmate. Small world.
From there I traveled to Seattle and later found myself in Juneau, in which I saw 5 bald eagles. That's more than I had seen in my entire life.
I visited the Mendenall Glacier and was told to be on the lookout for bear.
The next day I would board a small Cessna plane, sit in the front seat next to the pilot, and fly through the rugged, snow covered mountains of Alaska I had dreamed about, landing in Skagway.
And now here I sit.
Not at a log on the side of the trail, sweating and panting.
But at a desk, wearing a chevron dress with tights, typing away at my computer.
I'm surrounded by photos and old newspapers.
I look out onto the small borough of Skagway and see all of the tourists walking in and out of shops.
And I'm more positive than ever, that this little town will bring just as much adventure and life-changing experiences as did 500 miles in the wilderness.
But this time I'll go home to a futon, electricity and running water.
And I can't say that I'm mad about that.
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