My family and I were hiking up a mountain during one of our last days on our vacation to Wyoming. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep I obtained from the cacophony of snores that roared in our shared tent cabin during the night and the continual activities during the day. When my parents decided to have us walk an extra two miles prior to our mountainous assent I was ready to boycott the whole trek. With my face contorted in a frown, I stomped ahead of my other four family members onto the dreaded dirt path that would lead us to our originally planned trail. While my family stopped to awe at the sight of the cerulean lake, I marched ahead without any regard for my surroundings. When I had finally made it to the mouth of our mountain trail I almost collapsed onto a nearby rock as my legs screamed at me for walking too fast. As I waited for my family to catch up with me I surveyed my surroundings. Evergreens loomed above me, a squirrel scurried along the ground, and a waterfall roared to my left. My eyes widened in wonder when I caught a glimpse of the view through the tree trunks. As if in a trance, I crept forward to get a better view of the beauty that was slightly obscured by evergreens. After my eyes had adjusted to the blinding sunlight, my breath seemed to leave me. In front of me stretched the endless greenery of the Grand Teton National Park and the serene Jenny Lake. 

While my brain attempted to commit the landscape to my memory, I began to wonder why I had dreaded hiking up those two extra miles. It certainly wasn’t due to the trek being too long because after a few minutes of resting my legs did stop aching. Although I couldn’t come up with a valid explanation for my grumpiness then, I realized later that it was because I’m very privileged. Every summer that I can remember my parents have packed up our largest vehicle and smushed all five of us into it for a big family vacation. Whether it was going to all the Disney parks or road tripping along the east coast, my parents took time out of their busy schedules to spend over a week with three crazy girls. On top of not appreciating family vacations, I also took the ability to walk and hike for granted too. I know that there are many people out in the world who are unable to walk or enjoy hiking up a mountain, like my grandma who was a paraplegic, but since I’ve personally always have been able to walk without any large restrictions I never really thought about how lucky I am. 

It's a little mind-boggling how much more I appreciate my life and the opportunities provided to me because of the mountainous treck that my family took on one of our last days of vacation.