Fear is a part of our human nature and our actions can many times be halted by that fear. That was something that I believed was going to happen when we all went rock climbing during our second expedition. It was the Fourth of July and we were all stoked to have the opportunity to rock climb. I was thrilled, until we got to our destination and I saw the ropes hanging off the side of the mountain. I was going to be hanging off the edge of that mountain and that is one of my biggest fears. It showed the possibility of something that was meant to go wrong. One part of me was not ready and wanted to go last, while another part of me wanted to get it over with. So I went second in my group. I put on my equipment, gave the proper demands to my belayer, my hands reached out and I climbed on. It was the scariest experience I had during the entire trip. All I remember was the encouraging words from my co-students and avoiding looking down or up because I did not believe I would make it to the top, but I did. When I reached the top and looked out, I felt true pride for what I had accomplished despite my fear of falling. It was a beautiful sight and feeling that one single experience had created.
-Rosenda Sanchez