I began writing for the BDN in 2007. Originally, my column was intended as something of an adventure-travelogue, giving readers a window into the people and daily life of South Pole Station, Antarctica. Over time, the column became “Being There,” a weekly journey of insight and experiences from wherever I was. I brought readers from my home state of Maine along with me to Mexico, New Zealand, Colorado, and back home. I brought them to migrant camps, resettlement centers, through public transportation systems, kitchens, quiet afternoons and hiking trips. For the last year I have been writing from Baltimore, Maryland, constantly seeking adventures within a new, relatively stable lifestyle.

This fall I begin my tenure as a nursing student. This is a new stage in my life, with a new scope. While it is one that I find deeply absorbing, and an eventual springboard into future years of experience and adventure abroad, I feel that this turning point is a crossroads where my Maine readership cannot follow.

It will be a very strange thing for Friday to come and go unfettered by deadlines and unmarked by email exchanges with readers. But make no mistake: I will continue to write. My hope is that closing this one chapter will make it easier to open the next, with new forms of writing, new challenges, and new venues. Prune to grow, they say. Stay tuned.