I was trippin'

From: York president
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2025 2:37 PM
Subject: I was trippin'

Dear York Students,

True confessions: I love to travel, but I hate to fly.  Yet I don’t let it stop me from seeing as much of the world that I can.

In January, my husband surprised me with the best birthday gift ever: a trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights.  I was super excited and booked a tour in advance to see the Lights as well as other things.  Our flight was scheduled to leave on a Thursday afternoon with a return trip scheduled for the Monday. It would be a quick trip (4 days) but I would get to see and do everything I wanted to.

The airline had other plans though, due to a problem on their end, they couldn’t access our tickets.  It took them over 6 hours to figure it out, and we missed the flight.  I was disappointed, angry and sad all at the same time. I was ready to take my luggage and head back home.  But my husband (who is calmer) worked with them to book us on another flight, through London.  It would mean that we would have 3 days instead of 4.  Again, I told him to forget it, but he insisted that we extend our trip by a day, and I finally agreed (I was still mad though).

So while we waited for our flight, I started to rebook our activities.  Instead of seeing the Lights on Friday night, I tried to book for Saturday.  The company said that wasn’t a good night, because the skies have to be clear and rain was in the forecast Saturday night. Rain was also in the forecast for Sunday night. So, the only possible time was Monday night because the forecast looked better, but they could not guarantee it.

We finally landed in Iceland and I had a wonderful time.  It was a cloudy and rainy on both Saturday and Sunday nights.  And on Monday afternoon the tour company told us that our excursion to see the Lights was a go for that night.   And let me tell you it was a sight to behold!

This whole experience got me to thinking that if there were no problems with my flight, and I landed in Iceland when I was originally scheduled, I would have never seen the Northern Lights.  It was because of the problem with our tickets, our delayed departure, and the need to now extend the trip by a day, I was able to see the Lights.

Have you ever had that experience?  Something doesn’t go as planned, but it worked out better that you would have ever imagined?  I also know that there are times when you get so frustrated that you want to walk away.  Don’t, you are closer to reaching your goals than you were 6 weeks ago. And if you think the Northern Lights are incredible, wait until you walk across that stage at Commencement.  That will be a sight to behold.

Have a great week!

President Schrader