The forest. Fresh air. The mountains. SMU. Taos could be characterized as the wilderness compared to our campus here in Dallas. (The SMU-in-Taos campus is actually approximately 10 miles from the nearest town.) It’s set up in a campus of casitas, which are upscale cabins, a dining hall, library and all the modern technology that any college student could possibly need. Adobenet provides Wi-Fi, the cell phone tower with cell signal and personal chefs that cater all different kinds of dietary restrictions with all locally sourced and organic foods. The variety of classes are an equal display of the diversity of Taos.
Taos has its own version of therapy through nature. As Sylvia Plath said in The Bell Jar, “I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery — air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’” That is probably the most accurate description of my experience in Taos. It is easy to get caught up in the mundane aspects of our lives, muddled with thoughts that can be excruciatingly distracting when it comes to achieving our greater goals in life. That’s what Taos did for me.
The mountains and distance from the known creates an entirely new perspective in classes such as KNW and PRW. The traditional class setting is completely wiped away because you are living with your professors and their families. This is such a unique setting that sets up an opportunity to truly bond with your faculty outside of the traditional class material. You find out where their passions truly lie.
It’s true that the experience of transformation is not necessarily easy nor facilitated in the most supportive manner. Change is hard and the process taught me that too. It’s a lesson of adaptation and gratitude. You learn a new kind of appreciation for the world we live that kind of defines the priorities in the picture of your life. I know that I found it easier to let go of things that were unconstructive to my growth process and was able to become closer on the development of the person I wanted to become. I became re-energized on my goals, and my vision focused on what I want my life to be.
Beyond all of this transformation talk, Taos is straight up fun at an affordable cost. The variety of activities on campus to the hiking trail that’s a little divergence off the nature trail on campus. Going into town is a new experience every time and not everyone can say they wake up in paradise every morning like my two-week experience in Taos. Everyone cannot be a nature person, but everyone deserves to go to Taos and experience all that it has to offer at least once.
Feature Image Courtesy of Author