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I wrote the whole place off in one “It’s just for kids!” swoop and never looked back. Until this summer.

If you want to actually see the booths and walk through the festival at more than a sleepy-herd-of-cows-on-a-summer’s-day pace, this is your golden ticket.

I’ve realized that for a whole bunch of years, I was consuming all of the cool things about State College, but not fully participating. I was showing up with more of a “what does this town have to offer me?” kind of vibe, instead of also considering what I had to offer in return.

Just last week, as my to do list was piling up and I started to feel the overwhelm set in, I quickly threw on a pair of flip flops that didn’t match my outfit (have yet to run into the Fashion Police around town), looped around the block for 10 minutes, and experienced that downshift.

We got into our car, incredible-smelling artisan pizza and greens in tow. And as we crested the hill on South Atherton, heading back towards town, we saw it.

Since a majority of the students have left for the summer, we’re all getting ready for The Big Shift. This is the time of year where State College transitions into a playground for locals.

Do you know about the secret society of utter magic and fun that’s a part of foraging for these elusive forest treasures each spring? Before moving to State College, these wild mushrooms weren’t on my radar at all.

I wanted to share a little about what I’ve found has been possible in StateCollege in just this short period of time that I’ve been intentionally seeking out my community.

If the winter blues show up at your door in January with a suitcase in each hand, ready to be all up in your face until April, this one’s for you.

As I enter into my seventh State College winter, I know that the spring, summer, and fall on the other end of this are so worth the wait. But I also know that we can set ourselves up to do so much more than just tolerate an entire season on our way to those warmer months.