Girl in the Woods : A Memoir read book MOBI, FB2, TXT
9780062291066 English 0062291068 Girl in the Woods is Aspen Matis's exhilarating true-life adventure of hiking from Mexico to Canada a coming of age story, a survival story, and a triumphant story of overcoming emotional devastation. On her second night of college, Aspen was raped by a fellow student. Overprotected by her parents who discouraged her from telling of the attack, Aspen was confused and ashamed. Dealing with a problem that has sadly become all too common on college campuses around the country, she stumbled through her first semester a challenging time made even harder by the coldness of her college's "conflict mediation" process. Her desperation growing, she made a bold decision: She would seek healing in the freedom of the wild, on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada.In this inspiring memoir, Aspen chronicles her journey, a five-month trek that was ambitious, dangerous, and transformative. A nineteen-year-old girl alone and lost, she conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. Exhausted after each thirty-mile day, at times on the verge of starvation, Aspen was forced to confront her numbness, coming to terms with the sexual assault and her parents' disappointing reaction. On the trail and on her own, she found that survival is predicated on persistent self-reliance. She found her strength. After a thousand miles of solitude, she found a man who helped her learn to love and trust again and heal.Told with elegance and suspense, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully rendered story of eroding emotional and physical boundaries to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map.", In 2008, Aspen Matis left behind her quaint Massachusetts town for a school two thousand miles away. Eager to escape her childhood as the sheltered baby girl of her family, Aspen wanted to reinvent herself at college. She hoped that far from home she'd meet friends who hadn't known her high school meekness; she would explore thrilling newfound freedom, blossom, and become a confident adult. But on her second night on campus, all those hopes were obliterated when Aspen was raped by a fellow student.The academic year commenced; Aspen felt alone now, devastated. She stumbled through her first college semester. Her otherwise loving and supportive parents discouraged her from speaking of the attack; her university's "conflict mediation" process for handling sexual assaults was callous then ineffectual. Aspen was confused, ashamed, and uncertain about how to deal with a problem that has disturbingly become common at institutions of higher learning throughout the country. Her desperation growing, she made a bold decision: she fled. She dropped out and sought healing in the freedom of the wild, on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada.In this important and inspiring memoir, Aspen chronicles an ambitious five-month trek that was as dangerous as it was transformative. Forced to survive on her own for the first time, squarely facing her trauma and childhood, she came to realize that the rape was not the only shameful burden she carried with her as she walked. She found herself on a new expedition: to confront and overcome the confines that had bound her since long before her second night at college.A nineteen-year-old girl alone and adrift, Aspen conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. Among the snowcaps and the forests of America's West, she found the confidence that had eluded her all her life. After a thousand miles of solitude, she met a man who helped her learn to love, trust, and heal. Then from the endless woods she blazed a new path to the future she wanted and reclaimed it.What emerges is an unflinching portrait of a girl in the aftermath of rape. Told with elegance and suspense, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully rendered story of emotional and physical boundaries eroding to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map.", Knapsacked by Aspen Matis has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher., Not since Alice Sebold's Lucky and Cheryl Strayed's Wild has a young woman written such a searing, yet hopeful story of survival in the wake of a horrific trauma and finding acceptance, hope, and healing in nature On her second night of college, amidst the excitement of new friends, new classes, and a new campus, Aspen Matis was raped by a fellow freshman. Vigilantly sheltered by her parents as a teenager, and then silenced by them after her rape, Aspen was left feeling confused, numb, and ashamed. She stumbled through her first semester while enduring the incompetence and coldness of her college's judicial process, until she finally decided to run. The only road in sight: the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada. Now, in this grippingly honest and inspiring memoir of adventure, Aspen recounts her journey from shattered girl to self-reliant woman, as she discovered herself in the wilderness of the American West. Setting out to hike the entire trail in solitude, Aspen details how the five-month trek was ambitious, not to mention dangerous, yet it was the only way she felt she could heal. But what starts as an attempt to break from her past quickly becomes a mission to confront it, as her survival requires her to brave the isolation of the wilderness and the anonymity of the travelers she meets. Along the way, she learns to trust others again, but more importantly she learns to rely on herself. From communing with fellow desert pilgrims to exhausting her physical limits, from hiking desolate mountain passes while on the verge of starvation to meeting her future husband who helps her see what it will take to love again, hers is a story of pushing through emotional and physical boundaries to reveal the truths that lie on the other side. In the end, this book is a bold and poignant testament to the transformative power of self-reliance. It is a coming-of-age story, a survival story, a love story, but, ultimately, a story of finding hope and healing in nature.
9780062291066 English 0062291068 Girl in the Woods is Aspen Matis's exhilarating true-life adventure of hiking from Mexico to Canada a coming of age story, a survival story, and a triumphant story of overcoming emotional devastation. On her second night of college, Aspen was raped by a fellow student. Overprotected by her parents who discouraged her from telling of the attack, Aspen was confused and ashamed. Dealing with a problem that has sadly become all too common on college campuses around the country, she stumbled through her first semester a challenging time made even harder by the coldness of her college's "conflict mediation" process. Her desperation growing, she made a bold decision: She would seek healing in the freedom of the wild, on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada.In this inspiring memoir, Aspen chronicles her journey, a five-month trek that was ambitious, dangerous, and transformative. A nineteen-year-old girl alone and lost, she conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. Exhausted after each thirty-mile day, at times on the verge of starvation, Aspen was forced to confront her numbness, coming to terms with the sexual assault and her parents' disappointing reaction. On the trail and on her own, she found that survival is predicated on persistent self-reliance. She found her strength. After a thousand miles of solitude, she found a man who helped her learn to love and trust again and heal.Told with elegance and suspense, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully rendered story of eroding emotional and physical boundaries to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map.", In 2008, Aspen Matis left behind her quaint Massachusetts town for a school two thousand miles away. Eager to escape her childhood as the sheltered baby girl of her family, Aspen wanted to reinvent herself at college. She hoped that far from home she'd meet friends who hadn't known her high school meekness; she would explore thrilling newfound freedom, blossom, and become a confident adult. But on her second night on campus, all those hopes were obliterated when Aspen was raped by a fellow student.The academic year commenced; Aspen felt alone now, devastated. She stumbled through her first college semester. Her otherwise loving and supportive parents discouraged her from speaking of the attack; her university's "conflict mediation" process for handling sexual assaults was callous then ineffectual. Aspen was confused, ashamed, and uncertain about how to deal with a problem that has disturbingly become common at institutions of higher learning throughout the country. Her desperation growing, she made a bold decision: she fled. She dropped out and sought healing in the freedom of the wild, on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada.In this important and inspiring memoir, Aspen chronicles an ambitious five-month trek that was as dangerous as it was transformative. Forced to survive on her own for the first time, squarely facing her trauma and childhood, she came to realize that the rape was not the only shameful burden she carried with her as she walked. She found herself on a new expedition: to confront and overcome the confines that had bound her since long before her second night at college.A nineteen-year-old girl alone and adrift, Aspen conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. Among the snowcaps and the forests of America's West, she found the confidence that had eluded her all her life. After a thousand miles of solitude, she met a man who helped her learn to love, trust, and heal. Then from the endless woods she blazed a new path to the future she wanted and reclaimed it.What emerges is an unflinching portrait of a girl in the aftermath of rape. Told with elegance and suspense, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully rendered story of emotional and physical boundaries eroding to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map.", Knapsacked by Aspen Matis has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher., Not since Alice Sebold's Lucky and Cheryl Strayed's Wild has a young woman written such a searing, yet hopeful story of survival in the wake of a horrific trauma and finding acceptance, hope, and healing in nature On her second night of college, amidst the excitement of new friends, new classes, and a new campus, Aspen Matis was raped by a fellow freshman. Vigilantly sheltered by her parents as a teenager, and then silenced by them after her rape, Aspen was left feeling confused, numb, and ashamed. She stumbled through her first semester while enduring the incompetence and coldness of her college's judicial process, until she finally decided to run. The only road in sight: the 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada. Now, in this grippingly honest and inspiring memoir of adventure, Aspen recounts her journey from shattered girl to self-reliant woman, as she discovered herself in the wilderness of the American West. Setting out to hike the entire trail in solitude, Aspen details how the five-month trek was ambitious, not to mention dangerous, yet it was the only way she felt she could heal. But what starts as an attempt to break from her past quickly becomes a mission to confront it, as her survival requires her to brave the isolation of the wilderness and the anonymity of the travelers she meets. Along the way, she learns to trust others again, but more importantly she learns to rely on herself. From communing with fellow desert pilgrims to exhausting her physical limits, from hiking desolate mountain passes while on the verge of starvation to meeting her future husband who helps her see what it will take to love again, hers is a story of pushing through emotional and physical boundaries to reveal the truths that lie on the other side. In the end, this book is a bold and poignant testament to the transformative power of self-reliance. It is a coming-of-age story, a survival story, a love story, but, ultimately, a story of finding hope and healing in nature.