Over the summer I completed a 2 week, 215 mile rigorous hiking trip through the remote island of Isle Royale. The decision I made was to return for my fourth year of camp to not shower in the woods for 14 days, or to spend my days endlessly gossiping at the pool. Being myself, I needed a break from my town and said yes to a decision that I thought I would have turned away from.

All I can say is, thank God I didn't turn away from it. Did you know that sometimes the worst things you can think of can turn out being that best? Like delivering that speech that you fear to the class, or going on the roller coaster that makes your stomach churn, or even eating that food that made you sick. Well my two week hiking experience was the food that made me sick, or so I thought.

During the trip, I kept a daily journal. I love rereading it because the progression of the days was incredible. You see, on day 4 we were hiking through the rain in our only pair of clothes while mosquitoes swarmed our faces. My first line that day was, "F*** day four." The whole rest of the page was scribbles of words that I was too angry to completely write. I thought I had made the worst decision.

Now, take that day four to day ten. The first sentence reads, "Today was incredible and absolutely life changing." Those words still give me the chills. I can remember watching the sun set over the rocks at Todd Harbor campsite, roughly 150 miles into our trip. We were so close, and singing songs over a clear Lake Superior looking into the horizon was enough to make any girls eyes water. Girls spend their whole lives waiting for 'their moment'. A typical girl assumes that this is the day her prince charming comes, or the day when they finally become famous. Well my prince charming was the sun and I became famous with myself. The words "I'm a rambler and roamer, what a wonder it seems, I've traveled all over, Chasing after my dreams" were enough to show me that this decision that I had made would be my precedent for how I live the rest of my life. Even though my legs were unshaved, my hair was in cornrows, I smelled worse than a boy after gym class, and I had worn the same pair of clothes for 10 days straight, I still take away something more valuable than any piece of gossip said at the pool.

This, this moment, so perfectly summed up every victory, loss, struggle, risk, triumph, memory, and future to be seen in my life. This moment defined my reason for happiness. It designed my reason for life. Sometimes, even if you are like me and the thought of a challenge makes you want to crawl up into a hole and cry, you have to take the risk. You have to go after the thing that scares you the most.

Now, it's not like I did this on my own. I had nine other wonderful girls to back me up and I guarantee if you ask them about this trip their reactions will not falter. It will not change. Every girl that watched that sunset and hiked those 215 miles knows that.

I learned the simplicity of life. I learned that even with so little, you can have so much. You can be so happy. You don't need the latest iphone, you don't need the brand names, you don't need any of it. The only thing you need are people who can make you smile. Smiles are contagious. Happiness is beautiful, just like the sun that set over the lake dividing us from Canada.

Every girl shed a tear that night because every girl had just realized what it was all meant to be. Peaceful, not chaotic. Precious, not negligible. Accepted, not forbidden. Loved, not hated. Praised, not feared. Wondrous, not horrible. Beautiful, not boring.

That night I finally saw what it all meant. Through one sun, one lake, 10 girls, and my hiking backpack, I saw it. We don't need that much, in fact we don't need anything but each other.

Welcome to life. You've just been accepted.