It is truly a great feeling when you find something you love, something that completely lights you up from within, something you fall asleep at night thinking about, something that motivates you to work hard in school and be productive with your time so you can have more time to do that something.
And for me, that something is climbing.
I think I realized this 7 years ago when I first started climbing at the gym near my house, and subsequently joined the climbing team there, but I’d forgotten it in the years since, because I stopped climbing to focus on my very academically rigorous high school.
Let me just say, it is a great feeling to have rediscovered that passion.
This past week has been filled with climbing events for me! On Saturday, Nov. 15, I went to see the first round of DarkHorse, an annual climbing competition series at MetroRock. It was so exciting, electric, and heart-stoppingly engaging. I got to see some big names in the climbing competition world! Meagan Martin, Peter Nixon, and Andy Lamb, among others. I even got photos with Meagan and Peter! Peter’s at the top of this post and here’s Meagan:
I look starstruck!
I also have a video of Andy Lamb finishing the last problem in the men’s finals! But I can’t figure out how to post it here so I’ll link you to the Facebook page of Wendy WOC-er, who is the personality for Wellesley’s Outing Club. 🙂 The girl you hear cheering in the video with the really high voice is actually Meagan Martin!! Somehow I ended up sitting next to her when we were watching the men’s finals which was really really exciting even though I didn’t say a word to her. 😀
Here are more photos of people climbing at DarkHorse!
I don’t remember when exactly I made the conscious decision to get a MetroRock membership and commit myself to getting back into climbing, but I found myself paying for a 1-month membership on Tuesday. I’d been working on a history paper all weekend and I really needed to get out for the sake of my sanity. So, I decided to make the 2-hour (one way) trek all the way to MetroRock (it’s at the end of the Orange line on the subway).
It was definitely worth my time. It ended up taking a 7-hour chunk out of my day (a 2 hour commute each way what with the Wellesley shuttle and the subway, and 3 hours of climbing in between) but I returned to Wellesley with my head clear and my mind focused, and the next day I sat down and finished my paper.
Part of my decision to commit to climbing was due to knowing myself. I become inefficient with schoolwork when I haven’t exercised for days and it just takes a much longer time than necessary to do all my assignments. So far this semester, I’ve been trying to swim and run on a regular basis, just to keep the endorphins coming, you know. But I’ve found that I have no real motivation to do either of those activities, and so that plan didn’t really work. Getting off campus is also great for a shift of perspective. I find that I sometimes retreat so far into my own little world that the boundaries of my existence seem to be made up of only my campus, my room, or sometimes, in extreme cases, my laptop. Getting off campus can definitely help with the tunnel vision! (Also sometimes known as the Wellesley bubble.)
Tuesday had such a good effect on me that I decided to go again last night, on Thursday. And the thing with climbing is, you can always go to the gym alone, and you’ll always end up making new friends (if you want to, of course). Everyone’s just doing their thing, climbing at their own difficulty levels, but people who climb are also hugely supportive of each other, so when you’re working on problem, other people might be watching, and will often give you support and cheer you on even if you’re a complete stranger. It’s the beauty of the climbing community. And I love it. Both nights this week I made new friends and both nights I got a great workout.
To top off this climbing-filled week, tomorrow I’m leading WOC’s first Intro to Climbing Trip. (WOC=Wellesley Outing Club) I have 10 girls coming with me, which makes me very very happy! I had no idea there was this much climbing interest at Wellesley. I’m sure tomorrow will be great, and I’ll keep you posted. 🙂
Until next time!
~Emily