I'm back!

Hey everyone, it's been a long time since I last posted. I know. I've been busy with Grad School! I'm getting a masters in teaching elementary school at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ. It's a great program. I had no idea that it would click so well with my interests. The social justice and multicultural education is right up my alley. I will post some assignments to give you a window into my studies.

So - I have a big goal I want to share with you: I want to run the Western States Endurance Run in the summer of 2016. If you know anything about the race, you'll know that it's one of the toughest footraces in the world. You run 100 miles over the Sierra Nevadas in California. You run from snow-covered mountain-tops down through brutally hot canyons.

I want to run this race for a lot of reasons. The elite ultra runners around the world compete in this event. The course is so beautiful and natural. It's also the gnarliest terrain I've ever heard of. To me, it's like the Olympics of Ultrarunning.

Not just anyone can run this race. You have to qualify by running a 100 mile or 100 KM race the year before. The qualifying race I'm picking to run is the Vermont 100 next July. The funny thing is that you have to qualify for the Vermont 100 as well! Thankfully, I completed the NJ Ultra 100 miler in 2013 so I qualify.

All of this is very exciting for me as I haven't really DREAMED BIG since deciding to apply to grad school last spring. And the big dream I had before Grad School was to apply to Peace Corps, which came to me two years ago. DREAMING BIG really motivates me to do my best. I hope all of you readers out there have BIG DREAMS lifting your spirits and efforts every day too!

Happy trails everyone!
-Steve