<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Hannah Photo.jpg" style="width: 175px; height: 250px; float: right; " />&ldquo;Au Sable is a special place.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ve heard those words so many times. First from Paul Wiemerslage on my arrival as an intern this past spring as we hiked the woods, and again from our director, Fred Van Dyke when I participated as a student during the summer. Those words were lived out in friendships I&rsquo;ve gained. In the laughter of Dave Mahan and stories of Bob and Becky Barr. In the encouragement of Lynn Drew and Dieter Bouma, and in the hospitality of them all. This fall when the new interns came in I found myself saying those same words, excited and hopeful for them, eager for these people to discover it for themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>
<p>
	I arrived looking for wilderness, tired of cities and wanting a place of rest. In hindsight it wasn&rsquo;t truly cities I was tired with but rather the constant striving to be a success that seems to engulf so many people competing to find work.&nbsp; I had talents and skill but they needed to be honed and shaped and I had felt beaten in a place that only wanted me once I was successful but were uninterested in helping me get there.&nbsp; That is one of the pieces that makes Au Sable such a special place; the people here want to see you successful and care about you getting there, so they give you the very best of help, resources, and themselves to make it happen. I didn&rsquo;t know about that when I arrived. I was just headed into the woods, grateful that a door had been opened.</p>
