it’s what we should do
growing up my siblings and I loved the
scooby-doo cartoon mystery series an
all-too-familiar cast of meddling kids
along with their dog constantly on some
spooky adventure to solve a mystery our
favorite was called the mystery of the
old abandoned sawmill picture the gang
walking up to the building covered in
rusted doors and peeling paint as they
pry open the ancient door it lets out a
creak that seems to shake the entire
building and as they begin to explore
it’s like they found a whole new world
one abandoned by craftsmen long ago
except this time this was not an episode
of our favorite TV show simply replaced
the cast of meddling kids with my family
yes this was in fact an afternoon that
we spent while on our first road trip up
the California coast in 2009 and since
that first road trip we have visited all
50 states as a family I’m only 17
yet this is one of the hundreds of
adventures I’ve been on in my life
and they all started back in the summer
of 2009 in September of 2008 the US
stock market experienced one of its
largest crashes in financial history
home values plummeted and thousands
became unemployed overnight needless to
say it was a time of confusion for
almost everyone almost a year later my
parents sat down and tried to figure out
how to entertain a 9 year old a 7 year
olds and a 4 year olds for the entirety
of summer on a very tight budget what
they decided on was a week-long road
trip up the California coast they called
it smart super Morales annual road trip
that first smart trip was life-changing
for every member of my family because it
started a tradition a tradition of
journeys journeys to places I would have
never imagined I would go or experience
and since then we’ve been to all 50
states as a family and what I realized
which is more important than anything
else is that the lesson is in the
journey we all have the opportunity to
learn from the experiences behalf but
not all journeys are career
equal there are three core components of
a successful journey and these three
components have the capability to pivot
perspective and to change a trip into a
journey one worth remembering the first
component is to challenge yourself now
if you know me or my family the word
outdoorsy is not one that immediately
comes to mind when envisioning us in the
sense that we are imagined riding ATVs
or hiking mountain peaks or ziplining /
alligators that being said we have done
all three of those things yes our family
road trips have truly pushed us to
expand our boundaries in relation to
adventure specifically those of the
outdoors and yes we have zip lined over
alligators when not in a minivan rolling
across the endless plains of middle
America or walk wandering through quirky
art museums in Oregon we were constantly
in search of things to do sometimes this
meant seeking out a landmark closest to
where we were staying the world’s
biggest groundhog or a deepest cave or
largest drugstore being a few of our
favorites at age 9 I followed my brother
into the depths of the organ caves
tiptoeing across slippery metal bridges
at 11 I gripped a plastic paddle as my
family and I torpedo down the Colorado
River in an inflatable raft
added by a rugged mountain man 13-year
old Ava held on to a cold metal bar as
she swung beneath the city of Louisville
Kentucky on an underground zipline in
complete darkness 100 feet above solid
ground challenging yourself is key when
embarking on any journey whether it
involves death-defying feats or not
simply being in an environment different
than the one you’re used to is where the
challenge really begins they can really
come in all different forms embracing
new cultures interacting with locals
even trying new food so when on your
journeys I really urge you to challenge
yourself in one of those ways the second
component is to open your mindset this
past summer my family and I ventured to
Alaska it was a 10-day bear filled I
open experience but in the weeks and
even the months leading up to this trip
found myself increasingly less excited
about it using my friends more lavish
vacations as a comparison to where I
should be going and what I should be
doing with my summer also when I
pictured Alaska I pictured rugged men
clad in flannel with beards reaching all
the way to the floor
two hours of darkness a day and it
completely off the grid lifestyle now
these are ridiculous stigmas but they’re
what stuck in my mind and they’re
usually what stick in people’s minds
whether it be in relation to travel or
not opening my mindset meant letting go
of these stigmas that I had associated
with the states we were traveling to
getting more excited about our road trip
through the middle of America and
embracing Alaska for all of its natural
beauty and even more as our adventure in
Alaska began to unfurl I actually began
to fall more and more in love with the
unfamiliarity of it all because seeing
and being in this place so different
from where I called home affected me so
much more than I thought it would on a
completely different side of culture and
the country was our road trip to
America’s deep south in 2013 now the
most intriguing destination on this road
trip for me was the city of New Orleans
the famous home of ghosts beignets and
jazz music I was only 12 at the time
but I distinctly remember one afternoon
that we spent when my family and I
ventured to a graveyard just outside the
city as we were walking through the
cemetery I remember passing a family of
at least three generations gathered
around a tombstone singing a hymn all
together that is the kind of culture
that changed me for the better and that
I was exposed to on these road trips
starting from age 8 seeing this honor
for family this passion for ancestry and
allowing myself to become immersed in
these cultures that I had never even
seen or experienced before changed me so
much and finally the third component is
to be present mentally present
recognizing experiences as they come and
also taking time to reflect upon your
this past October my family and I
visited our 50th state New Mexico on our
last morning we woke up before the Sun
and we were out the door by 4:00 a.m. in
the cold desert air we were bundled in
as many layers as we could fit into we
drove in silence until we arrived at a
huge field about the size of 54 football
fields to be exact it’s truly incredible
how much more beautiful the sky became
over those next 45 minutes picture
hundreds of hot-air balloons so clumsy
and deflated looking when on the ground
but as they rise up into the sky so does
the Sun and it illuminates their
brilliant colors
it was truly breathtaking now I never
thought I’d be able to say I was so
incredibly inspired by hot-air balloons
but being at this event surrounded by
people whose passion for it seemed to
illuminate their entire being really
changed something in me last year the
Albuquerque hot air balloon festival was
the most photographed event in the world
with over 25 million photos being taken
over the course of just a few days but
with even a hundred or with 25 million
photos you couldn’t capture the feeling
of actually being there which is why
being present is so incredibly important
my family’s road trips have had an
impact on me far greater than I could
have ever imagined kind of like that
spooky abandoned warehouse I never knew
how much beauty our own country held but
as we began to take these road trips and
as I grew more and more each summer the
warehouse door began to creak open in my
mind and behind it lay a whole new world
to explore and that I wanted to explore
I have evolved as a person as a sister a
daughter a friend and an artist I have
become more brave more curious more
willing to ask questions and immensely
more aware of the world around me it may
seem like our daily routines make it
hard to seek out the journeys in our
lives but in
reality they’re all around us just
waiting to be started with that being
said I urge you to seek out the journeys
in your life and when you do remember
the three components to challenge
yourself to open your mind set and to be
present because you have the potential
to change the world with just one
adventure and when you do these three
things your life will be richer than you
could have ever imagined your greatest
lessons will emerge and you have the
potential to do anything thank you [Applause]