People at Wilson

People at Wilson tend to have done amazing things (and, of course, we’re all sure to do a lot more). One of my closest friends here on campus spent a year after high school WWOOFing in Italy, practicing sustainable agriculture on a farm. Another spent nine months in Americorps, traveling around the United States doing service. So when Debra from the Service Learning Office asked me to give a tour to ten students and two faculty members from University of Louisville on a spring break service trip (some of them Bonner Scholars), I figured they would be cool people. Wilson only attracts the best in not only students and faculty, but also visitors (just go contra dancing some Thursday and talk to a stranger - you’ll understand). These students, however, exceeded my expectations.

After taking the group on my largest tour thus far (and probably one of my most entertaining – it involved tree climbing), one of the perks of my job here in Admissions kicked in. They liked me, I liked them, and I was invited out for hiking and tacos.

Now, it’s midterm week. My Spanish oral exam was the next morning, and I had had no prior intention of going anywhere that evening. But let’s be serious – who turns down hiking and tacos? So to Montreat I went.

Montreat is a town / college / conference center about twenty minutes from Asheville. It’s set in between a few mountains and features unusual rental houses, shops, and is right by the quirky town of Black Mountain. I usually go hiking with my friends along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, but I must admit that Montreat was stunning. We arrived at the top of the mountain right as the sun was falling in the sky, and streaks of blue, purple, and red painted the sky. As we sat on a craggy cliff looking out over the Appalachians, I never felt more proud of the place that I call home. Nothing is more fulfilling that sharing a place you love with friends.

There are times in my life when I meet people who belong in Appalachia, and specifically Swannanoa, and don’t know it yet. These people were certainly Wilson students mistakenly living in Kentucky. To clarify: There was a boy in plaid flannel. We discussed corn subsidies, factory farming, the meat industry, and other reasons to eat local. Everyone helped with dinner. There was singing and a guitar, and we made it all the way through Old Crow Medicine Show’s Wagon Wheel (at full volume, no less), the song that always seems to come up at Wilson events.

I have the smells of garlic and sweet earth in my mind, a song in my heart, and gratitude for the opportunities Wilson tosses into my path (she’s not a subtle one). She may not give you what you expect every time, but she always sends you where you need to go.

Michelle

http://www.wwoof.org/
http://www.americorps.org/
http://www.bonner.org/campus/bsp/home.htm