As her senior year culminated in a flurry of graduation preparations, freshman Kellyn Hale hardly had the capacity to process the imminent 22-day journey she was about to embark on. Setting out for Spain, she exchanged her school bag for a hiking pack.
For Hale, this trip represented the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. Growing up overseas in a missionary family, Hale knew leaving Malaysia to study social sciences with a minor in Chinese at Liberty University would be a culture shock.
To commemorate the transitional period, her mother proposed they travel along the famous “Way of St. James” route following her mother’s initial trek the year prior.
The Camino de Santiago is made up of many different routes, but Hale and her mother walked 522 kilometers along the Camino Francés. Marked by scallop shells along the paths, this famous journey maps out James’ pilgrimage as he preached the gospel. The site is also believed to be his final resting place at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Not only did this push her physically, but it also was a spiritual challenge as well. With no cell phones and at least six hours of walking per day, she was immersed in long-form prayer.
“In the busyness of life, it’s hard to put aside hours to prayer, but I do think it’s a very important thing to meditate on God’s word and spend that time with God,” Hale said. “You spend so much time with friends and so much time doing school, but why don’t we set that much time aside for God?”
The Camino Francés begins at the border between France and Spain and spans nearly the entire country. Hale noted that she experienced a special camaraderie with other walkers coming and going on the trail, frequently referred to as “Camino culture.” Walkers would frequently look after one another’s needs. Hale learned what it looks like to use brief interactions with others wisely.
She also experienced a unique opportunity to become closer with her mother.
“I think I learned a lot about my mom,” Hale said. “As a kid, your mom is always there and is always taking care of you, but you don’t learn about her as a person. So, I think through this journey, I was able to learn more about her as a person and how we really interact as people and not just as mom and daughter which was really cool for me.”
Oftentimes journeyers would pack stones in their backpacks to stack next to crosses planted along the path as a symbol to lay down one’s burdens to God. Each item carried for this spiritual tradition showed how the stones served a distinct purpose for the traveler.
Although she struggled to relate to the strong Catholic influences in the culture, she found a deep respect for the reverence she witnessed in the places she visited. She saw stained glass-embellished cities like León, Burgos and Pamplona and elaborate altars all along the route. Witnessing these sights reminded her of the importance in upholding the sacredness of God.
Hale has a unique connection to Liberty. Her grandfather attended in the early years of the school and then established the Network of International Christian Schools, a ministry that has started 13 schools across the globe and shaped Hale’s upbringing in Korea and Malaysia. Her mother, Jessica, also graduated with the class of 2002.
“Hearing how (Liberty has) grown and how I’m able to reap the benefits of their prayer — it wasn’t an easy college life,” Hale said. “(The students) really were the backbone and the foundation, and without their trust in the process of the school and their sacrifice, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Hale is transitioning to a new culture now that she is at Liberty. However, similar to her perseverance on the Camino de Santiago, she learned how to continue walking the path that God has mapped out for her into this new phase of life, one step at a time.
Hagen is the feature editor for the Liberty Champion.