September 6, 2022: Reflection on Appalachian Trail research essay and connection to Landscapes of the Sacred

 I had a difficult time starting my essay due to procrastination and confusion about the whole concept of the essay. I reached out to Dr. Redick during class and he explained it which helped out a lot. As soon as I was ready to start my essay I reached out to our peer mentor who is Jacob. I met with him at Einstein's and he helped me grasp the concept of the whole thing. I then had a much easier time writing and editing the essay due to his help. I finished in about a day and a half and I had an idea. I thought it would be a good idea to consult Jacob again about my essay. I sent it over to him and he had a few ideas of what I could add to make it better. I fixed a few minor things and took Jacob's advice and added the few things that he suggested. I thought I did pretty well with writing it and PERSEVERING through the confusion and frustration that I had experienced. Connecting Landscapes of the Sacred to my time writing the essay was difficult, but I found a common theme between the two. From what I have read so far, Landscapes of the Sacred is about sacred places and how they are connected with a being of a higher power. People on the Appalachian Trail had a special connection with the trail and I believe that they had this type of connection because they felt some sort of higher being there with them. Lastly, most of them talked about their connection with their god throughout the journals. I imagine that they felt this type of connection because they were on the Appalachian Trail and that specific trail is a way of linking their god and themselves.