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Talia Hodge
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Talia Hodge
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Talia Hodge
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Talia Hodge
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Talia Hodge
Virginia Williams was stressed. She was assigned an eighth-grade project to come up with a nonprofit that addressed a community problem, and she was struggling to pick a topic. A bit of a perfectionist, the young Girl Scout finally decided she would get to the root of her problem: stress. Finding a way to destress became the very challenge Virginia tackled.
A couple of years later, Virginia continued to feel stressed and realized that she wasn’t alone. She needed a topic for her Gold Award community Girl Scout project, so she revamped her idea into creating a calming trail to serve Copley. She put in over 80 hours of work to bring her Peace Out Path to life this fall.
Part of an existing 0.35-mile paved trail at Copley Community Park, the trail includes signs with relaxing activities that encourage hikers to notice the patterns of the tree canopy overhead, explore the texture of rocks and watch the wind moving leaves. Now, the 15-year-old’s trail is available for everyone who wants to quiet an anxious mind while reconnecting with nature. We caught up with Virginia to see why this project is so meaningful and how it will help Copley residents.
Why is destressing so important to you?
VW: I get stressed quite a lot. I had to see psychologists for it, and I thought a lot of kids and even adults might not be able to afford to see a psychologist or a counselor. So I thought of something that would be an alternative that would be free, so they could help deal with stress or depression or all those other problems.
How do you hope this will impact the people in Copley?
VW: Another problem I saw was that a lot of people don’t go outside as much as they did before. A lot of kids turn to computers and electronics. I know both kids and adults have anxiety, so I think this will help them find relief and be able to experience nature.
What made you want to get the trail started?
VW: Anything in nature helps me to automatically relax, and it just takes my mind off all the problems I might be going through. It helps me take that breath of fresh air and view the beautiful surroundings.
How did you decide on the location?
VW: It’s on a trail where I broke my arm a few years ago in cross-country. It’s actually my favorite trail. There’s a lot of trees and shade which is nice, and I thought it would be good to do it there so there would be good memories to override that one bad memory.
