To the Editor:
Re “The 48 Mountains That Held My Grief,” by Carrie Thompson (Op-Ed, Dec. 28):
What a beautiful piece about moving through grief. I am now 20 and, for the past few years, have increasingly struggled with suicidal thoughts. Since the pandemic and hours spent on a screen every day for school and work, I’ve found what gives me enough energy to carry on are long solitary walks where I can feel the weight of my legs, heart and head in the vast space and time that hiking provides.
I feel so inspired thinking about all of the peaks I have not climbed, something small within me still saying I am strong enough to. Ms. Thompson, it gives me so much hope to know you are teaching and sharing your soul with those who need it so dearly right now. Your strength and compassion are reaching more corners of the world. Thank you.
Abby de Riel
Princeton, N.J.
The Credentials of Politicians
To the Editor:
Re Jennifer Senior’s column “95 Percent of Representatives Have a Degree. Look Where That’s Got Us” (nytimes.com, Dec. 21):
People without four-year degrees may resent the idea that people with more education run their lives and look down on them. They may even be right to do so. But how many of them would really want people with less education deciding questions of foreign policy or trying to figure out what to do about global warming?
The real issue isn’t how many people in Congress have what degrees but rather how many have had an education that is relevant to what they’re being paid to do. Often, they know how to get elected but not what to do once they have been.
Electing more people with less education isn’t the solution. Electing more people who care about something beyond getting elected and accumulating power — and who have the education and training to know what to do and how to do it — is a better idea.
Eric B. Lipps
Staten Island