Good Morning Baltimore

By Rebecca Taylor

I’ll be honest: Baltimore was never on my list of places to live. In fact, Baltimore was never even on my list of places to visit. The only time I ever really thought about Baltimore was when I watch one of  my favorite musicals, Hairspray. Other than that, it never crossed my mind.

That is, till I applied for ESC. Not only did Baltimore get put on my list on places to live, it was in the number one slot. When my plane landed, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. All I knew of Baltimore was the 1962 Baltimore in Hairspray. In other words, I knew nothing about modern day real life Baltimore. When the plane landed that hot August morning, I found open arms and the adventure of a lifetime waiting for me.

Since then I have made friends who have turned into family as we cooked and ate dinner together, laughed together, and explored Baltimore together. I found wonderful spots in Baltimore, from bookstores to coffeehouses to festivals to parks where I can sit with a stack of library books and read. I marvel at trees with red and yellow leaves that I rarely got home in Texas. I have made friends with toddlers on the bus on the way to work and at town halls. I fell in love with my job where I work with a wonderful group of people and work for issues I am passionate about. I am close enough to DC that I can easily go down for marches and museums. I continue to grow in the Episcopal church and my faith continues to grow stronger.

My adventure in Baltimore is an adventure that I had never thought to dream of, because I only knew of ESC existence a couple of months ago. Thank goodness for google right? But it has been the adventure I needed. In the city I never thought to visit is the city where I am starting to figure out my life. It is in Baltimore that I am starting to figure who I am outside of college and outside of my home state. It has become a place where I continue exploring being a Episcopalian and falling more in love with the Episcopal church every day.  Baltimore has brought on so many wonderful adventures in the two months I have been here so far.

Good Morning Baltimore. What adventures do you have for me today?