N.R. Skinner

Float On

Just a few months ago I was driving in my truck with my boyfriend and said, “You know what? I really feel like I made it in life.” I had a full-time job doing what I love. I had a brand-new truck that I was paying for on my own without parental help. I had my own health insurance. I recently started traveling and had seen damn near almost all the United States. I saw all the major landmarks that were on my bucket list: the Grand Canyon, the Redwoods, Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, Washington D.C., and basically all of New England. I started hiking and set goals for myself that I reached easily within a few short years. I hiked Mount Washington, I hiked in Zion, I hiked nearly every trail in my home state of Massachusetts. I hiked so much I ran out of places to go locally. I really felt like I had found my niche in life and that I really made it. Even if I was living paycheck to paycheck, I had enough to pay bills and still go out every weekend with friends for lunch, or travel up north to hike. I recently graduated community college with an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. I transferred to a state school to complete a Bachelor's.