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Morgan Jordan traded in her predictable and comfortable life here for the icy winds and unknowns of Greenland, and according to her, she's a better person for it.

Jordan is a 26-year-old hair stylist at R & Co. Salon in Maryville who has always wanted to know what life is like beyond her borders. She got online and discovered there was a need for a barber/hair stylist in Greenland, at Thule Air Force Base. Almost on a whim, this resident of Maryville and graduate of Polk County High School filled out the application.

"I was more afraid not to go," Jordan said. "I was afraid of missing out on something and always wondering."

So on Sept. 22, 2008, Jordan boarded a plane bound for Thule with her pile of wool socks and over 350 pounds of gear to survive the arctic desert.

The Air Force base is home to 500 people, mostly contractors like Jordan. She estimated the actual number of military personnel at about 150.

Jordan worked in the barbershop on base five days a week and said she had to learn quickly. She wasn't, she admitted, the best at men's haircuts.

"I didn't know how to give a military haircut," she said. "The first haircut I gave there was a flattop and I had never done one. You really have to learn fast because you have 15 minutes and then it's on to the next one."

She learned to adapt to temperatures that plummeted to -50 and shopped at the only store -- a military commissary -- for necessities. For entertainment, there is a gym on base that contains a bowling alley. There is even a movie theater where she could watch newly-released features.

When her year was up, Jordan boarded the plane and headed back to Maryville with a new sense of appreciation for our military servicemen and women. She has hundreds of stories to tell and a new man in her life. He is from Texas and will be leaving Greenland next May.

We all have our own plans for our lives, but Jordan said not everything goes as planned. "Someone told me a long time ago that we can make our own plans but it's best to write in pencil and have a good eraser," she said.