I’ve heard about self-discovery before, and like many other realizations, it takes place in the great outdoors. In fact, the most common time that I heard about ‘finding myself’, was during eighth grade Outdoor Ed. This is a backpacking trip where students have a solo experience, and when they have to build their own shelter, and be alone for 24 hours. While this seems like a big deal to an eighth grader, there are many other people who have done much harder things. Self-discovery is something that I didn’t know much about, but I talked to one teacher who teaches all about it, and read a tale of self-discovery written by someone close to home.

At Aspen High School, some students read “Wild”, a book about a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail and ‘finds herself.’ The Pacific Crest Trail, hiked in the book, is a  2,650 mile long path from Southern California to Washington near the Canadian border, and an Aspen High School alum Jesse Nestler just finished hiking the trail. On the blog he wrote he said.

“To any thru hiker, the immensity of this accomplishment does not lie in the whole, but in the parts,” Nestler wrote. Sarah Ward, a teacher at Aspen High School, had said something very similar.

“I think what was so cool about that was it was an accomplishment that seems so much more than you are capable of,” she said. “It’s a really powerful tale of self-discovery. I think that although some kids didn’t like the book, it got them thinking about what’s important to them in their own lives.”

Talking to Sarah about self-discovery and reading Nestler’s blog really made me think about how important finding oneself really is. Everyone should really have some sort of trip or experience. It is important to learn about self-discovery, but I also think it is important to be able to experience it for yourself. Every person has a different experience that shapes them in a different way.  I just think it is important to find that experience.