As I sit down to write this my body is aching with pain, my forehead is dripping with sweat and my lungs are gasping for air, but for one of the last times this year. Fee Lane has gotten the best of me, yet again. For all Indiana Northwest neighborhood residents this daily reminder of how out of shape you are begins as you pass the Kelley School of Business and ends at McNutt if you're lucky, because for some it extends all the way to Briscoe. It feels like just yesterday I sized up the mountain with fear in my eyes. I never thought the day would come where I would never have to make the hike again.
To the long-boarders/skateboarders:
The people I have the utmost respect for. Your balance is admirable as you fly past commoners on the journey downward. I can barely keep my balance walking down Mt. Fee, and yet you manage to skate down it! The carefree vibes you display with your long white headphones dangling from your ears is something everyone should try to emulate. To those who have possibly taken a tumble and gotten back up, it is you who I admire the most. You kept going when the trek got tough, and for that, I am ever grateful. Wherever your next roller adventure may be I hope Fee Lane gave you that push you needed.
To the runners:
Stop. Fee Lane is not a gym.
To the people who got on the bus at Kelley and got off at McNutt/Foster:
Yes, I too am guilty of doing this. I know, the bus was there and your “exercise-induced asthma" just couldn't take it that day. We all were part of that detour together, and in the long run it was totally worth it. Your friends may have judged you, but they secretly did it too. Sometimes there was a bump along our way and thankfully the A-Bus was there to catch us and bring us right where we needed to be, the c-store. This made the trip all the more rewarding when we actually did accomplish it.
To the friends we saw along the way:
We were part of this expedition together, whether we were pacing ourselves down the summit or huffing and puffing along up it. Seeing friends as we entered and exited the Northwest neighborhood is what made the climb worth it. We knew we were all in it together, and in the end Fee Lane will be a memory of freshman year that will truly be missed.
Finally, as my heart rate slows down, and I can finally catch my breath, the sweat has been blotted from my forehead and my shin splints no longer ache, I can wave goodbye to Fee Lane and maybe shed a tear. I will no longer live in a neighborhood with the potential of altitude sickness, but I will also miss the euphoric communal feelings.
As the wise Miley Cyrus once said, “Life's a climb, but the view is great."
