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Iceland is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. I know I say that every time I go to a new country but I think Iceland might actually be magical. There is breathtaking scenery, incredible food and rich history that is part of everything you experience there, especially at Christmas time. This semester I took a travel writing class where I studied both writing techniques and the history of Iceland, then traveled to Iceland during winter break. I wanted to take this class because I was a journalist in high school but writing had fallen to the wayside in college. This was the perfect opportunity to immerse myself in writing again and travel to an incredible country. During the semester I wrote a couple of articles that reminded me how much I enjoy telling stories and writing about them. We had a field trip assignment where I revisited a place I had not been in a long time, and an assignment to tell a story about our summer where I relived my adventures with my family. I have included those articles on this page for those of you adventurous enough to read them. The semester itself was so much fun because we had an amazing teacher and the class was entertaining. We formed friendships that made the trip even better.
Being in Iceland was surreal. I'm not entirely sure I didn't dream the whole thing because it was so beautiful. I could even convince myself it was unreal if it hadn't been for the biting cold that I definitely would not have dreamed up. We froze for the majority of the trip but it was worth it. I say most of the trip because after flying into Iceland, our first stop was the Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is a man-made hot spring/spa. I don't think I have ever felt more pampered in my life after getting off a plane. We were there at 6 in the morning so it was still dark out, granted it was almost always dark outside since there is only 4 hours of sunlight in the winter, but it also meant we had the place to ourselves. Between the darkness, the steam coming off the water, and being enveloped in warmth, it was enchanting. The Blue Lagoon was only the tip of the Iceberg (yes that was an Iceland pun). We saw gigantic waterfalls where it was so windy we thought we were going to be blown over, geysers that shot 15 feet in the air and hiked a glacier that required pickaxes and helmets. Even more notable, we were able to see the Northern Lights. It took a couple tries but it was worth it. I would not have traded this experience for anything in the world. I spent 10 days with some of my favorite people doing amazing things, eating incredible food and going on unforgettable adventures.
Writing Samples
Here are two articles that I wrote during the semester. One is about a field trip to the aquarium and the other is about my adventures trying to travel to the National Street Rod Association Convention. Enjoy!