[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6099-H6100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  JULIA RUELLE AND THE BOUNDARY WATERS

  (Mr. PAULSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, last year, 16-year-old Julia Ruelle of 
Minnetonka, Minnesota, started having headaches and exhaustion. A 
sophomore at Minnetonka High School, she was diagnosed with a very rare 
brain tumor.
  Julia grew up loving the outdoors, and as she began her treatment, 
she would often think about the Boundary Waters Canoe Area where her 
family vacationed for years.
  Today, Julia is recovering and is back to outdoor physical activity. 
She recently won an essay contest on why the Boundary Waters are so 
important and why it matters to her--winning a prize of a parent-free 
weekend canoeing in the Boundary Waters wilderness.
  Julia, looking strong and healthy, just visited my office last month 
to advocate for protecting the Boundary Waters. She is a brave girl, 
and she is a perfect example of what this national treasure means to 
Minnesota and what it means to our country.
  I include in the Record a copy of her essay.

             2018 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Essay Contest

           (Winning Essay by Julia Ruelle, Minnetonka, Minn.)

       It's the start of the school year: everyone is sullen for 
     being forced to sit still all day and teachers try in vain to 
     pull us out of our school-induced slumber with a myriad of 
     get-to-know-you activities. As I fill out yet another form 
     with questions I am tired of answering, I come to the 
     question asking me to list my favorite activities. I pause 
     for a moment, wondering which activities to include this 
     time: running, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, 
     sledding, ice skating, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, 
     camping, gardening, walking, hiking, biking, hammocking, or 
     exploring. As a shortcut and

[[Page H6100]]

     with a melancholy glance at the sun shining through the 
     window, I settle with writing, ``being outside''.
       Though such get-to-know-you forms are rarely very honest, 
     one fact always holds true to me: I love being outside. In 
     the summer, a typical day usually starts with running with 
     the cross country team as the sun rises, paddling with a 
     friend in the afternoon, and an evening walk with Rio, our 
     faithful seven year old rescue dog, around a small lake of 
     the over 10,000 our state is known for. For the past 5 years, 
     Rio and my family have been lucky to have a change in scenery 
     to the beautiful, pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
     Wilderness for about four days each summer. These days are 
     when I feel most connected to my soul and surroundings and 
     most at home, with no social media or material concerns to 
     distract me from the purity of the air in my lungs, dirt 
     beneath my feet, and the sounds of birds, water, and all 
     things natural in my ears. My love for these lands has caused 
     me to be involved with the Campaign to Save the Boundary 
     Waters movement, regularly donating and wearing the logo on 
     shirts, stickers, and pins as frequently as possible. All my 
     classmates know of this passion of mine, as I take any 
     opportunity to educate my peers about the threat the proposed 
     Twin Metals mine poses to the pristine waters so unique to 
     the Boundary Waters and the many watersheds it affects.
       Though Jerry Vandiver, a country singer with an album or 
     two about the Boundary Waters area, sings that ``winter is 
     for . . . pull[ing] out the map'' and ``plan[ning] a new 
     route'' while keeping close to the warmth of the fireplace, 
     to me, the snow and sub-zero temperatures of Minnesota 
     winters make venturing outside even more exciting! I joined 
     the cross country ski team last year and immediately 
     regretted not having tried it earlier. Skiing taught me to 
     love winter and pray for more snow, instead of begrudging it. 
     Though I grew up loving to ice skate at the park across the 
     street, learning to ski ignited a desire to be outside 
     everyday, even when the cold was biting.
       Unfortunately, this winter has been a little different. 
     Around Thanksgiving, I started experiencing exhaustion, 
     headaches, and nausea at rates I had never before had to 
     withstand. As doctors didn't perceive any viruses to be 
     concerned about, we wrote it off as migraines and I continued 
     to participate in life as usual, going to school and ski 
     practices everyday. However, after trying to fight through it 
     for two weeks, I ended up in Urgent Care one night and 
     scheduled an appointment with my doctor three days later. 
     During those three days, I slept pretty much all day and 
     barely ate, thanks to debilitating headaches and nausea. 
     Arriving at the doctor's appointment, I threw up in the 
     waiting room and the nurses deemed my low body temperature 
     and slow heart rate alarming enough to rush me to the 
     emergency room in an ambulance. At the end of that day, they 
     still didn't have any answers as to what was causing it all. 
     However, the next day, my doctor suggested getting an MRI and 
     I squeezed into their last slot of the day. Halfway through 
     the MRI, my parents were rushed into a special room and my 
     doctors got in contact with the radiologist and a 
     neurologist. All in all, the verdict was that there was a 
     mass in my brain causing pressure build up, also known as 
     hydrocephalus. I required an endoscopic third 
     ventriculostomy, which is essentially a tube put into my head 
     to allow the fluids to flow, and a biopsy to find out what it 
     was. So there I was, getting brain surgery, which is 
     definitely not the curveball most expect during sophomore 
     year. The biopsy revealed that I had a rare brain tumor 
     called a germinoma, luckily with a high cure rate. Obviously, 
     this has changed my life completely and kept me from doing 
     most normal teen things. But, the worst part was not being 
     allowed to run, ski, skate, or do anything that had the 
     potential of making me fall until the surgeons deemed me 
     ready. Still, I made it my priority to be outside at least 
     once a day, usually taking short walks. Getting outside even 
     when I felt unable to do most other things has been a type of 
     therapy for me. Breathing fresh air and feeling the cold on 
     my face refreshed me and made me feel better, at least for a 
     little while, every time.
       After six weeks of limited activity, the Friday I got the 
     OK to do any activity I wished began the best weekend since 
     the diagnosis. In the afternoon, I went snowshoeing on a 
     trail through the cattails. At night, I ice skated with 
     friends. The next morning, I cross country skied on a frozen 
     creek. On Sunday, I ran for the first time since the 
     diagnosis and though it was incredibly slow-paced, the 
     feeling of fighting through the burn and completing an entire 
     loop of my go-to trail can only be understood by those who 
     have experienced the phenomenon of a runner's high. Better 
     yet was the soreness that almost kept me from making it down 
     the stairs Monday morning. I had been sore many times due to 
     the chemotherapy, but this pain was something I had caused 
     myself by working hard and, in a weird way, made me very 
     proud of myself.
       Reading the announcement of this essay contest in the paper 
     this Thursday, I could hardly withhold my excitement! I 
     danced around the house, imagining the essay I would write 
     and how much fun it would be to share my favorite place with 
     my friends. Though I am such a lover of the BWCA, most of my 
     friends have never experienced its hypnotic serenity and I've 
     always wanted to share it with them, but not wanted to have 
     to bring my parents along. This contest has the potential of 
     granting me this wish. In addition, I am lucky to have a 
     short treatment plan of chemotherapy and radiation that will 
     be wrapped up in early May with no physical restrictions. 
     This enables me to be perfectly ready for a summer trip to 
     the greatest place on Earth with my closest friends.
       As I reviewed the details of the contest, I found something 
     additional that links me to this mission: Joseph [one of the 
     contest judges]. Hi! I read that you were diagnosed with 
     leukemia at 13 years old and I imagine you and I share many 
     similar experiences. Other than just the typical cancer 
     similarities, I wonder if you share the experience of growing 
     a little sick of your parents. I know, it might seem 
     impossible to them, but after being surrounded and worried 
     about almost exclusively by my parents for the last couple 
     months, I'm very ready to escape their concern for a little 
     while. Of course, I have always and will always love and 
     appreciate them for their constant love and support, but 
     distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? My desire to 
     spend a couple days deep in the wilderness, sharing unique 
     experiences with my closest friends, has increased greatly in 
     the last couple months.
       As a long-time lover of the outdoors and the Boundary 
     Waters and a recent parent-escape hopeful, I would cherish 
     this opportunity to navigate the lakes and portages I'm so 
     fond of with my friends. I know my dreams will soon be filled 
     with mornings looking out over the water, long days of 
     paddling, dinners laughing beside the campfire, and nights 
     sleeping with only a tent between me and a sky full of stars. 
     I pray these dreams will be made a reality.

                          ____________________