When I felt stressed, I would often step out of our building and sit in the field outside. We would joke about how it would take at least an hour to sprint to the nearest exit (assuming we didn't get eaten by a boar). As I was stuck as a soldier for 18 months, the first few months felt constricting and suffocating.
Although I have moved around throughout my life, I have primarily lived in cities, the view of tall and large buildings being imprinted into my view of landscape. The first time my scenery changed dramatically was when I moved to Mongolia. Outside Ulaanbaatar, vast plains and hills stretched out, reminiscent of the picturesque landscapes seen in textbooks, YouTube travel vlogs, and Windows home screens. Unfortunately, the beautiful Mongolian scenery was blurred out by academic stress and my desire for more activity.
It had been a while since I had felt overwhelmed by such emptiness, which painfully reminded me of the life I had left behind. There was nothing but mountains, trees, grass, rocks, and sand.
Though the extreme amount of nothingness added to my stress, after a while, my surroundings started to embrace me rather than suffocate me. The isolation helped me reflect and learn. I had always been anxious about the near future, but if I was stuck as a soldier for the next 18 months,
maybe I could finally focus.
