Molly Farrell, Sheffield, MA, St. Lawrence University 2011
I have always had a passion for traveling, adventuring, exploring and "being on the move". I spent my spring semester of my junior year in Australia. My favorite experiences and memories while abroad were the times I was on the road and exploring different areas and regions of Australia and New Zealand. While in New Zealand visiting on of my best friends from school, we came to the realization that traveling around these countries has been a great experience but none of us were well traveled in our own country. With no concise career plan mapped out we decided then and there that we were going to hit the "open road" after graduation. We made the plan that cold rainy afternoon in Dunedin, NZ and since then we haven't stopped talking, fantasizing, and planning our trip. Our general plan for the trip is to find the true American spirit and explore what America has to offer. We will only be traveling on small roads and highways, making sure to avoid large interstates at all cost.
Lilly Callahan, Brownsville, VT, St. Lawrence University 2011
When I was 9 years old, my favorite present that I received for Christmas was not my new American Girl Doll, or my fancy new bike; it was the first two books in the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. These books of adventure and survival of this brave pioneer family became an obsession of mine. For years I pretended I was Laura traveling into the great unknown and I swore that someday I really would make the journey across America. "As I was walking a ribbon of highway/I saw above me an endless skyway/ I saw below me a golden valley/This land was made for you and me." Though cliche, Woodie Guthrie's song, as well known as our National Anthem, hold two truths; the overall vastness of the country and the unity of the 300+million people who live here. I may not be in a covered wagon like my original dream, however, I want to see for myself (and a with a few great friends), taking the time to get to know the land and the people of this great country.
O'Keefe Foster, CA/VT, St. Lawrence University 2011
I was born in San Francisco, the goal line of western expansion, but raised in the backwoods of rural Vermont, steeped in the culture of the original settlers. Manifest Destiny in reverse i suppose. I don't really think I can explain why I'm going across the country; the road just seems to be calling. I was raised on stories of Kerouac and Guthrie, Robert Johnson and my own father at my age. These stories more than anything inspired me to hit the road and experience America firsthand, cutting through the ghost stories we have heard on the news, and explore the country on my own terms. I want to listen to rock n roll in Memphis, explore the rockies and go swimming in the pacific. Most importanty im excited to meet new people all across the country, from different walks of life and points of view. Also, im really excited to go skateboarding on all the amazing and legendary spots this country has to offer, cause im a big fan of that too.
Katharine Hitchcock, East Canaan, CT, Villanova University 2011
On December 26th, 1978 my mom got in her car with a tent, her clothes and a CB radio and drove west. She didnt stop until she got to Park City, Utah and spent the next five years of her life adventuring in the wild west. I have always envied her for doing exactly what her heart told her to do, and figured I would eventually do something similar but somewhere along the way I got caught up in everyone else's plans. After spending the majority of my life thus far in classrooms its time for this girl to put on the brakes, and finally do what her heart is telling her to do. On the 60th anneversary of Steinbeck's journey I'm swapping my resume for a roadmap, leaving the GPS behind, and driving full speed into this amazingly unplanned adventure.
