Everyone always said that Midis Valley was the most beautiful valley in the universe. The clouds and fog hung low in the sky, which made the sky look gorgeous. The sky was grey, but not a sad grey. It was a calm, majestic grey. The mountains were all around in a circle. When you stood on the edge, you could see all of the different mountain peaks. For the most part it’s foggy, but sometimes you can see the river below. You can see the river if you look closely. There is also clouds above you as well. But never fog where you are standing. You always have a clear view. The most important thing overall is that you go at 6:00am. It sounds really early for most people, but that’s by far when it’s the most beautiful. If you stand on the ledge, you can see it come up right before you. The sun seeps through the clouds giving color to everything rounds it. The environment gains life from the sunrise.

The best part is, it’s really quiet and no one is around. That’s because people have a hard time getting up there. It’s crazy high elevation and takes a long time because it’s far away from the rest of the world. Most people can’t handle it physically, mentally, or financially. It’s similar to if you were to climb Mount Everest, except for it’s a lot less cold. A LOT less cold. That’s another reason why it’s so great. It’s exactly 71 degrees all year round and it never changes. It’s scientifically impossible, but it exists somehow.

Unless you are very determined, you probably won’t get to ever see what Midis Valley looks like. But some people are determined. One of those people is Joshua Hudson.

Joshua Hudson was a 16 year old kid in high school. He had a normal family and he had a good group of friends that he would hang out with at school. He played soccer and was on the cross-country team but he didn’t hang with the jock crowd. He had a few friends on the cross-country team, but he had other friends too. He had brown hair, green eyes, and a really nice smile. A lot of the girls had a crush on him. He had a sweet personality and he looked good. Although he was normal for the most part, there was something different about Josh.

He never missed soccer or cross country practice, he hardly ever missed school, he made sure his room was always clean, he loved to argue, he didn’t care about stupid school drama, and he loved to challenge himself. Those are all smaller things, but they add up to have one thing in common. His drive. He wanted to do well in school despite the fact that he was on the cross-country and soccer team. He wanted to make his mom happy, so he always kept his room clean. He made sure everything was how he wanted it to be, because he had the determination. Once he set his mind to something, it was going to happen whether it was good or bad. So this story was no different.

One day, Josh walked in his history class with his good friend Mike. They were waiting for the bell to ring for class to start when his other friend Jacob came in.

“Hey guys,” Jacob said “I heard we are starting a research paper today.”

“Really?” asked Mike.

“I think a research paper sounds kind of fun.” Josh said.

“Fun? Who thinks a research paper is fun? It sounds stressful and I don’t even have the time.” said Jacob.

“It should be fine, just focus during class and you shouldn’t have to worry about it.” Josh reassured him.

“The teacher hasn’t even told us if we are doing one or not. Don’t jump to conclusions.” Mike said to both of them.

Just then, the bell rung and Mrs. Pennsley stood up. She looked excited, which was a dead giveaway that we were doing a research paper.

“Alright class, pay attention! So as many of you have heard, we are doing a research paper today.” she said. Everyone groaned as soon as she said that.

“Let me explain the assignment! It’s not bad at all. In fact I think most of you will really like it.” she said as Joshua gave Jacob an I told you so look.

“You will pick a place somewhere in the world and write an informational essay on the history of that place. You guys have the whole class today to work on it. Any questions?” she said. Some kid asked “So we can do anywhere in the world? Even if no one’s ever heard of it?”

“Yes. You can do anywhere in the world as long as it’s a real place.”

Josh, Jacob and Mike started doing research on cool places in the world. Jacob chose Paris which was very predictable. (It had the most information so it would be easy to write about. It’s just like Jacob to take the easy way out.) Mike chose some place in South America which was also predictable because he has family there. But Josh didn’t want to do a place that everyone has heard of. He wanted to do something cool, even if it was hard. After looking for almost a half an hour, Josh finally found the perfect place for his paper. Midis Valley. He read about the sunrise, mountains, and he even found some stories from people that have gone to see it before. He was mesmerized. He wanted to make this paper into something cool. He wanted to make people interested.

“Have you found what you’re writing about yet? You’ve been sitting there staring at your computer for the last half hour.” Mike said.

“Yeah, I finally found what I’ve been looking for. It’s gonna be perfect.” Josh replied excitedly.

“Of course it’s going to be perfect, you’re writing it Josh.” Jacob said half jokingly. Josh smiled and got to work on his paper. He was disappointed when shortly after, the bell rang to go to his next class. His next class was spanish, but then he could go home.

Josh got home and pulled out his homework and put it on the table like he always did. He started working on his essay first and foremost. He was writing a lot more than he intended. Eventually he came to a realization. He really had something in his mind for Midis Valley. The idea seemed crazy, but he already thought it so there was no turning back.

“Mom!” he shouted.

“What sweetie?” Josh’s mom said from the other room.

“Come here! I want to talk to you about something.” Josh said.

Josh’s mom sat down and she turned herself so she was facing him.

“Hey, so I know this sounds really crazy…”

“Josh, all of your ideas are crazy, I don’t think I’ll be surprised.”

“Ok, but brace yourself. Do you think I could hike Midis Valley if I wanted to?” Josh asked with hope in his eyes.

“Um… physically you could definitely train yourself to do it, and you don’t tend to get overwhelmed by anything, but financially we just can’t do it.” his mom said.

“But what if I raised money? I have a job.” Josh said.

“Yes, but you should be saving for college. You shouldn’t be saving for some trip that you randomly decided you want to go on.” his mom said.

“I mean, yeah but life is all about the experience. I can work extra hours, so then I can pay for both.” Josh tried to convince.

“Yeah… I guess if you really want to. But you have to have someone to go with.” his mom said.

“Easy, no problem. There is an entire online community of people who are training. I just have to chose someone that sounds fun and I can hop on a plane with them.” Josh said.

“I get nervous about you meeting people online. I don’t think you should go with someone random.” Josh’s mom said nervously.

“Mom, people meet online all of the time now a days. Plus, they’re not random either. They share my same interests so it would be really fun.” Josh said.

“Well, I trust you. If it’s safe, I suppose you can do it.” his mom said eventually.

“Yes! Thank you mom!” Josh said as he ran into his room.

He quickly changed into running clothes and shoes so he could start training. Midis Valley requires you to be in really good physical shape and he had to get started as soon as possible if he wanted to go in the spring. He was already pretty physically active naturally, and on top of that he was really competitive. He had to be able to run 18 miles in under 2.4 hours. It sounds pretty easy, but most people can’t actually do it. Currently it takes him almost 3 hours to run 18 miles and he’s doing his best to try and do better.

He finished writing his paper in no time. In fact, he wasn’t even thinking about his paper anymore. He was completely focused on training for Midis Valley. He had finished all his school work as quick as possible, just so he could keep training. Now that his training schedule was all figured out, he had to figure out exactly what he was going to do financially. He told his mom he could work extra hours so he could save up for college, but when he looked into it it was pretty unrealistic.

In order to pay for both college and this trip to Midis Valley, he would have to be working 7 hours after school every single day. He couldn’t do that because fitness wise he needed 10 hours of sleep every night. He was frustrated but he was determined to overcome this. He was searching for a solution, but he couldn’t tell his mom because that’s what his mom warned him about. He decided he would talk to Mike. The next day at school he went up to Mike.

“Dude, I need your help. It’s urgent.”

“What is it?” Mike asked.

“Ok… so this might sound crazy…” said Josh.

“Just say it. Coming from you, nothing is that crazy.” said Mike.

“Ok, how do I earn money to go to Midis Valley? Also, do you think you could help me earn the money?” Josh asked.

“Since when did you decide that you’re going to Midis Valley?” Mike asked.

“Well I don’t know. I was just doing my research project on it and I realized it’s something I really want to do.” Josh said as he shrugged.

“Um…” Mike was thinking it over.

“I think you should do a GoFundMe page. If you make your reasoning sound good enough, people will give you donations.” Mike said.

“Okay, could you help me set up the page?” Josh asked hopefully. Mike was really good with computers so Josh knew he was someone he could count on.

“Yeah sure. It’s actually easier than you might think.” Mike said.

During lunch that day at school, Mike helped Josh set up a GoFundMe page.

“Thank you so much,” Josh said “I owe you one.”

Over the course of the next few months, Midis Valley was all Josh could think about. His whole life was Midis Valley. He trained physically 2-3 hours a day. He still had to go to work for 2 hours a day to pay for college though. He was always checking the GoFundMe page on his phone. Most of his friends and even his family thought he was crazy for not backing out. But he kept going. As soon as he put his mind to something, he wasn’t going to drop it. He even had to change his eating habits as well. He couldn’t eat any junk food at all. Only natural sugars like fruit which would help his workout. He had to give up twinkies which he used to eat almost every day. They were his favorite but his priorities changed.

His mom always asked if he needed a break, but he refused to take one whether he needed to or not. He definitely went through trials. There is no denying that. But he never gave up. It got really hard, when his friends would go to parties and go to movies but he had to train or work. He knew it was worth it though.

Plus every once in a while, he could skip a shift of work because the GoFundMe page was earning a lot of money. He spent that skipped shift usually taking a nap or catching up on homework. He didn’t have much of a social life other than talking to Mike and Jacob. He couldn’t hang out with them after school, but during lunch he talked to them as much as possible. Him and Mike would text about the GoFundMe page.

Mike and Jacob were really supportive and did everything they could to help Josh. It payed off, because one day Mike came to school with really good news.

“Have you checked the GoFundMe page recently?” Mike asked Josh.

“No,why?” Josh said as he pulled out his phone.

He went to the app and couldn’t believe his eyes. Not only did they get enough money donated, they got more than enough, He finally did it. He was going to Midis Valley. He hugged Mike and thanked him a million times for all his help. He thanked Jacob for his moral support. He called his mom; he was so excited he thought he might cry.

“Mom! Guess what, guess what!” Josh said as he was about to jump out of his skin.

“What honey?” his mom said half awake.

“I’m going to Midis Valley!” he exclaimed.

His mom gasped and said “That’s great sweetie! I’m so excited for you! You know, I knew you could do it. I never doubted you for a second.”

“I know mom. Thanks for always supporting me.” he said as his voice broke. He was about to cry.

Josh thought it over and after a few days he realized something. He didn’t want to just read his research paper. That’s what everyone else is doing and that was boring. So he asked his teacher if he could just talk about the place a little bit and then share his experience on it. Knowing Josh’s personality, the teacher said it would be just fine. Just as long as he got the main requirements from the rubric.

He presented it to the class (because conveniently the paper was due the day after he earned all of the money) the next day.

“Sometimes in life, you have to do what your heart tells you to do. That’s what my paper is about. Well… sort of. My paper is about Midis Valley. But what I’m presenting you with today is my experience. This started off as a research paper. I was using this place for my paper when I realized that this is something I really want to do. As soon as I was researching it I knew, this is where I want to go. It was really hard, but I was able to set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for it. I was also working to pay it, and training physically so I’d actually be able to do it. So as you can imagine, these last few months have been really hard. But I’ve finally been able to pull something really good together for this presentation. I hope you like it.”

His presentation included all of the details about Midis Valley, and his experience working towards Midis Valley. Everybody was really inspired. It was amazing to him that he could make people really think just by using words.

Fast forward 2 weeks later, he was at the airport heading to Midis Valley. You can accomplish really cool things when you persevere.