“It was the most glorious moment ever,” Assistant Principal Natasha Fischer said.

On the last night of her trip in Iceland, Fischer was at a restaurant and it was cloudy outside, so she felt discouraged about seeing the northern lights, which was a long-time wish of hers.

Her waiter asked her, “What brings you to Iceland?” to which she said, “It’s my 40th birthday and I’m trying to see the northern lights.”

“Then the waiter said, ‘oh! They’re coming out tonight!’” Fischer said. 

She then was given directions to a place nobody knew. A little confused, she and her husband followed the directions they were given.

Fischer made the trek in March of 2023; March is one of the best times to see the northern lights.

“And we got to see Iceland, and that’s very cool,” Fischer said.

Every night, Fischer and her husband would wait for the northern lights to come out, but they never did. According to an article by  Arctic Adventures, there are around 200 chances of seeing the northern lights in Iceland each year.

“We would go and ask locals, we had apps on our phones to hunt them,” she said.

On the final night, when she finally was able to see the northern lights, Fischer knew right then and there that that was where she was meant to be.

“I always tell people, ‘enjoy those moments’ because it reminds you that there’s so much more to this world than some of the stuff we’re dealing with day-to-day here,” Fischer said.

Fischer also said that people tend to ignore the beauty of the world because they get so bogged down in things like social media and terrible news and immediately think negatively of the world.

“When you see those moments and you see how much bigger this world is, it opens your heart and your eyes to so much more,” she said.

She also remembers the time she took her kids to see the Redwood trees over the summer.

“I remember thinking, ‘oh my gosh, there’s so much to life. There’s so much beauty in this world that we forget about,’” Fischer said.

Fischer encourages people to not get caught up in what she calls the “grossness” of the world because there are positive things it has to offer.

“There is beauty, and we have to enjoy those moments,” she said.