End of the School Year

While I am still in the midst of the #trust30 challenge posts about self-reflection, I am going to take a little break from that to catch you up on some end-of-the-school-year events. As always, the last few weeks of the year were extremely busy with finals, grading, comments, parties, going-away events and more, but it's ALL DONE! I am officially one week into summer vacation and loving every jam-packed minute so far. Seriously - what do people do who are not teachers with at least six weeks of summer vacation? Blows my mind.

Anyway...here is what the end of the year looked like...

Final 8th grade team meeting.

We said goodbye to two of my fellow teachers, Angie (in red), who taught 8th grade English and Steph (in blue with a white scarf), who taught 8th grade science. Angie started at Bolivar the year before Steph and I so she was a super helpful guiding source in our first year there, and Steph came to Bolivar with a lot of experience and a willingness to share it with me. I am going to miss both of them as individuals and as members of the 8th grade team tremendously next year.

Going away & end-of-the-year party! Kelsi dressed me in her clothes - cute, no?

Pre-party crew in the elevator mirror. I just love everyone's expressions here. :)

Tara's early birthday celebration!

Her birthday was actually this week, but we celebrated early before everyone headed home for the summer. She loves Vallenato bands, so we had one surprise her at the restaurant we were at and they even let her take pictures with the accordion afterwards!

8th Grade Graduation ceremony.

A few 8th grade teachers after the ceremony which included certificates for all the students and lots of awards/recognition for various things.

Middle School End-of-the-year Party

Traditionally someone gives a speech or says a few words about the people leaving and I was asked to talk about Steph. I made a slideshow with some photos of her time in Colombia and then said nice things about her...and quickly sat down before I was asked to translate it all into Spanish :)

Anna arrives!

The perfect end to another great school year! Anna arrived from Wyoming on Tuesday, June 14 to spend a week and a half traveling with me in Colombia. Details and photos of our adventures are soon to come!

Happy start of summer vacation!

Imagine (Prompt 17)

Prompt:

Invent the Future by Cindy Gallop

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flases across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

My favorite quote of all time is Alan Kay: "In order to predict the future, you have to invent it." I am all about inventing the future. Decide what you want the future to be and make it happen. Because you can. Write about your future now.

My Response:

I have long wanted and will probably someday actually get a tattoo of the word imagine. Not because I have any serious connections to the Beatles or John Lennon, although it is a great song, but more because I like the idea of imagining what else is out there. My whole life has been a journey to adventure and explore, simply because I imagined what else the world had in store for me.
When I think about my future I think also think about the future of our world and when I think about that I only want to imagine one thing: peace.
Before you stop reading because this just got all existential and weird, hear me out. Peace, in the purest sense of the world, simply means to live harmoniously together. With other countries. With our families. With our coworkers. With our friends. With ourselves.

I want the future to be a place where we don't make fun of each other for our shortcomings, but celebrate our individuality. A place where we think before we act. A place where we cut each other, and MOST OF ALL ourselves, a damn break every once in awhile. A place where it's okay to mess up, screw up, be a disaster for day, etc. so long as at the end of the day you still treated people with dignity and respect. A place where we don't have to watch the 6:00 PM news to find out what tragedies happened on that day. A place where "nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

Yeah...I think we could all go a little good by imagining a place like that.

Let's make it happen :)

Feeling Young & Alive in Spain (Prompt 16)

Prompt:

Wholly Strange and New by Bridget Pilloud

When good is near your, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; - the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Can you remember a moment in your life when you had life in yourself and it was wholly strange and new? Can you remember the moment when you stopped walking down a path of someone else, and started cutting your own?

Write about that moment. And if you haven't experienced it yet, let the miracle play out in your mind's eye and write about that moment in your future.

My Response:

I could barely finish reading this prompt before my mind got started with this solitary thought: SPAIN!!!!!

I traveled by myself for the first time. Felt more young and alive than ever before. Took a huge risk, got on a plane and studied abroad in a country where I didn't know a soul, still felt terrified to speak the language, and with a group of people I didn't know a thing about.

I missed my friends and family back home, but honestly there wasn't one day that went by that was anything short of amazing. I met amazing-still-keep-in-touch-with-soulmate-type friends, studied a culture that fascinated me more everyday, traveled around the country (and to Paris!), and reveled in the thought that this was my adventure.

Looking back that summer of 2007 feels like a six week dream that was over before it even started, but I know now that is where I can trace back my love of travel, culture, Spanish language, Spanish cuisine, Spanish wine, and the mentality that I am willing to try anything at least once.

I felt uncontrollably happy. Alive with energy and a positive outlook on where my life was headed. Young in the sense that I still viewed the world around me as a place full of adults running around the day-to-day while I went to class from 10 AM-1 PM, sat on the beach, traveled on the weekends, and met friends for drinks every night. I felt lucky and grateful.

Lisa and I spent this whole day on the beach just talking and enjoying the gorgeous coastal town of San Sebastian, Spain on the weekend of my 20th birthday.

My roommate Cassie and I at our favorite place to go meet all our friends for drinks.

A weekend trip to Paris :)