I hate that the bottom of the Grand Canyon has such good cell service. I finished hiking down ten miles of steep sedimentary rock, in what felt like a million degrees. Having ran out of cold water at mile seven, I was practically crawling for the remaining three. When we reached the bottom, my mother and I sat down at a picnic table and, in the absence of much else to do, I whipped out my phone and signed into the college board website—you know, what every millennial does in one of the most beautiful natural creations in the world. Looking back now, I’m amazed that in the midst of the Grand Canyon, the only thing I could think about was my AP score. As I typed in my password, I expected to get a notification saying, “No internet, try again later.” But at that moment, I received the best connection and lesson to date.
