November Project DC
Dear Mr. Vogel,
Good afternoon! I wasn’t sure how to begin this letter, but I suppose an introduction is a good place as any to start. My name is Tricia Aoki, and I have lived in the Washington, DC area for approximately 7 years. I’m writing you today, as I’m sure many of my friends are, regarding November Project and our weekly Monday/Wednesday/Friday workouts.
I could wax poetic about what November Project has done for my personal fitness — transforming me from someone who would perhaps go on a run here and there throughout the year (but NEVER in the winter when I deemed it too cold, or in the summer when it was too humid), to someone who has completed a half marathon, a 10-miler, a marathon relay, countless 5Ks, and runs recreationally (and for…fun?!). I’ve showed up to the vast majority of the M/W/F November Project workouts throughout the calendar year…in spite of snow, humidity, and all the other elements Mother Nature throws at us. But, I’m sure you don’t really need — or want — to hear the intricate details about my personal fitness accomplishments (I’m pretty sure no one wants to, but that’s ok)
I could also go on, for pages upon pages, about the amazing November Project community, and what an impact they’ve had on my well-being. To provide some context, I work in the sports industry here in DC, and after 7 years of living in the DC/metro area, was finding myself in a bit of a rut on a social and personal fulfillment level. I had accepted a great promotion that would keep me here in the DC area for the foreseeable future, but I knew something was missing. Enter November Project DC. I’ve found great friends who I’d see at minimum three days a week, who push me to be a better person on a physical, emotional, and community level. I found friends who would hold me accountable to show up to workouts. I found friends who would offer encouragement, a smile, and a hug when I had a bad day. I found friends who led me to volunteer opportunities to enrich my life and help me give back to a place that was starting to feel more and more like home.
But what I really want to convey in this letter, as I know the National Parks Service is celebrating its centennial birthday in August, is how November Project has led me to rediscover my love for our national parks. I was born and raised in California to parents who had a strong love of the outdoors and our national parks. My brother and I spent our summers traveling to various West Coast national parks amassing Junior Ranger badges from Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and of course, our family favorite, Yosemite.
And while I am rather ashamed to admit it, somewhere in that meandering path from childhood to adulthood, the love of the outdoors that I grew up with fell by the wayside. Not to make excuses, but it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the proverbial rat race of office life and forget that there are great national parks, even in my own backyard, to unplug from all the technology and distractions that dominate our lives nowadays. And I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my involvement with November Project has led to a renewed love of the great outdoors and our national parks.
This revitalized appreciation of our national parks has been twofold. One, I’ve found like-minded individuals within the November Project community that get me out of my apartment to explore the great outdoors. I wouldn’t be planning weekend hikes to Great Falls or the Shenandoahs if I hadn’t found a group of people who are equally excited and enraptured by the idea of just getting outside, enjoying one another’s company without the distractions of everyday life, and just appreciating that there are still areas, even in/near our major metropolitan city, that remain wild and undeveloped thanks to the preservation efforts of the NPS.
The second part of this renewed appreciation comes from my weekly M/W/F routine of joining fellow November Project members at our more urban national park locations — namely various hidden gems throughout the city on Fridays, Meridian Hill Park on Mondays, and especially the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesdays. I’ve seen more of DC in the past year I’ve consistently attended November Project than I had in my previous 6 years living in the DC area combined. Now I map my route to our Friday workout spots, more often than not at places I didn’t know existed in this city before the workout, but won’t soon forget. I had never heard of, much less been to, Meridian Hill Park until I started going to November Project, and now I look forward to starting every week there. I had never seen a sunrise from the Lincoln Memorial until I joined November Project, and now I get to see it every Wednesday. The emphasis on urban national parks and the importance of preserving pockets of nature in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a major city is something I never fully treasured until I was looking forward to seeing more of my city every week.
November Project has led me to find not only an amazing community that fulfills me on a social and wellness level, but has led me to rediscover my love of the national parks — and a vital part of my childhood — that I now recognize I need to make a priority and ensure it doesn’t disappear again.
To wrap all this up, (my apologies for the length of this, as brevity has never been my strong suit) I’ll leave you with a plea to allow our community, my family, to continue our workouts on NPS land. I’ll also leave you with this ridiculous picture of myself from last year’s Landmark Music Festival, which combines three things that are now, and always will be, an immensely important part of my life: music, support for our national parks, and November Project, displayed against the backdrop of the place where it all fell into place for me, the Lincoln Memorial. (with some prop sunglasses thrown in there for good measure)
Thank you for reading!
Respectfully,
Tricia Aoki
