The forest is calm and collected. The trees speak to one another as a small breeze enters their home. Today, my class has entered their home. We are here to explore, and get away from all the normal things in life. Half of my classmates go into the forest one way and the rest of us enter through the other way. Some are quick to choose a path, others aren’t sure which way they should take. As we move down the trail, some split off in pairs or groups; others wander off by themselves. By the end of high school, we will be following different routes. Just as we did here today. The moment we entered school we started to choose different paths, distinguishing how we will grow. Walking on the path I notice red and yellow leaves lying on the wet grass. Each a different shape and a different size. My classmates settle along the trail by these appealing leaves. A loon catches my attention and I decide to veer off the trail. I sit in the middle of four large trees with the lake just ahead of me. As I settle in the middle of these trees, and look outward, the color and sound of nature fulfills me.

All I see is green. The color of life, renewal, nature, and energy. The meaning of growth, harmony, freshness, and environment. Directly in front of me is the scene of Brush Lake. Across the calm water, a variety of green, yellow, red, and orange trees line the shoreline. The colorful leaves pop out like toast jumping out of the toaster. From a distance the leaves blend together, unlike the leaves I saw on the trail. The leaves on the trail were individual colors. They each had their own rich detail. I could tell each leaf was a different size and a different shape. Their colors were distinct from each other. Not one had the same contrast or glow. Not one was the same.

Just like my class of 2019, from a distance each individual is the same. Like the leaves I saw across the lake, I could not define the size, shape, or color of them. While I could define the ones on the path because I was closer to them. Leaves change year after year, just as I do as I grow older. As I leave high school and come back, I will have changed. I will come back to Park Rapids as a new person. Just as leaves separate from the tree and grow back as new, different leaves.

As the sun starts to come out from beneath the clouds and the cold wind starts to pick up, I notice leaves getting blown off the trees in different directions dancing through the thin air. While some are blown across the state, some are being stopped by objects getting in their way. I am one of those leaves. As I reach the end of high school, I am forced to make a decision. Do I want to go to college? Do I want to work? Do I want to stay close to home? I struggle to know what path I want to take. The path I choose will be different than my classmates. There may be some roadblocks along the way to success. I have already hit some roadblocks. I am like that leaf that is blown for a ways, then stopped by a group of bushes. It feels like I know what I want to do, then I take into consideration everything else and I suddenly don’t know what to do. At some point I am going to have to make a decision if I want to succeed.

Decisions.

The forest made me realize that I needed to go my own way. As my classmates dispersed their own ways, my body was telling me I needed to go somewhere alone. I don’t always need someone with me. I put everything aside and just listened to nature. Sitting there I heard more than just the wind moving the trees. Birds chirped. The sharp chirps of the birds made me think. Are they trying to tell me something? I felt as if they were telling me to get going. To make a decision. To go with my gut and do what I love.

I am at a point where I am just living life. Taking it one day at a time, not worrying about my future. Just like leaves. They hang on a tree day by day, not worrying about what is going to happen to them. When it is time for them to leave, they will carry on with what they feel is right. The wind will take them where they need to be. Just like God will lead me to where I need to be. And right now, it is back to the bus. Back to where my classmates await me.