Sometimes, when I am about halfway through something I’ve decided to do, I realize I should have been more prepared before setting out on the journey. But I just keep going because I’ve started. And when I’ve started, often it feels good to finish so I can look at what I've done and say, “that’s done now… what’s next?” Maybe you have experienced this as well. I hope you have. I was reminded of this example of perseverance (one of our six learning to learn skills, more on that later) last night when I chose to walk home in the wintery mix. I measured the distance to my house — only 1.1 miles. Not bad even in inclement weather. It was 4:40pm and the dark of night had already set in. I started walking. The first half of the walk was not so bad. I wrapped my big scarf around my head and my hair kept the slushy rain-snow out of my eyes. There was a sidewalk and I could feel safe there. The cars that were speeding by would not hit me. But I was wearing black, dark orange, and brown, my clothes made of cotton and linen. Sign one and two of unpreparedness. Halfway through my walk the sidewalk ended and the dicey part of the journey began. In order to feel safe that the cars would not hit me, I had to walk close to the curb in the bike lane. The wintery mix that was falling from the sky had been coming down since the early afternoon creating a cold puddle of slush near the curb. I only had a half a mile to go but to feel safe walking in the dark, wearing dark clothes, traversing Route 2 - I made the choice to hug the curb and let the slush soak my feet. My boots are warm but not waterproof. When I heard a car coming, I either lifted my arms or jumped to the snowy lawn next to the graveyard. Sign three of being unprepared but taking precautionary steps to be able to keep going. Truth is: I never really feel prepared to stay warm at the beginning of winter. As it gets colder, I usually have to experience one or two days of being too cold and too wet to remember that I need to start dressing for the weather. I do like layers. And I also like making a fire when I get home. I am fortunate to have this option. Fire is the only heat source that really warms me to the core. Maybe you have experienced this as well. I hope you have. We live in a very cold place for a lot of the year. So, the first real snowfall happened last night, giving us these kind of sensations. The seasons are turning from dark sticks to bright snow. With this new blanket on our landscape, we have nearly completed the first round of exhibitions! Two more to go early next week. Many fires have been lit (switch here to fire as a metaphor). We’re looking for ways to find what really lights us on fire. If your fire is already going, how will you maintain the flames? If you’ve just lit the kindling, where are the bigger logs that you’ll place on next? If your fire is raging in the wrong place, what skills will you develop to dampen it and start again. (Think of things like, being on your phone too much as a distraction from the real work or not using your time well or not taking advantage this amazing experience to study the things that you really care about). Si Henderson created a great list to help us remember the “necessary tools and resources to start a fire”. This is from Si’s narrative:
From Ana Young: Recently a discussion happened over dinner with my parents. They’ve heard me rant throughout the year on general frustrations of how badly settlers treated the Native Americans. But that night I shifted my rant to a formation of less facts and more takeaways. Instead of the usual: “Columbus was a bad guy, he enslaved and killed countless Natives!” I talked about how throughout history our morals have progressed, this often means that a hero of the past can become a villain in the future. We use Columbus as a symbol in our country, but along with that symbol needs to come education and recignization. The recignization for what that symbol truly means. From Ashlynn Perry: Hippocratic physicians didn’t study the human body because it was against their religion instead, they used logic and philosophy to cure disease. Holistic medicine evaluates the whole person (body&mind) and looks for the imbalance between the two. It emphasizes the body’s natural ability to heal itself. From Cole Dyer: Through this first quarter I have learned a lot about myself as a writer. Everybody has a different writing process and I had to figure out mine. I’m still in part figuring it out. Needless to say, there was a lot of trial and error (Such as setting a goal 25,000 words too high). I’ve learned that I need more time to think and more time to read than I originally expected. I also found that I write best when I ease into it, reading for a bit, thinking for a couple minutes and then beginning. I still have a lot to learn but it is super valuable experience that will make future endeavors just that much smoother. From Iona Bristol: (vast improvement from last year's Q1 narrative, ask her about it) All of that said: I am very proud of myself and my work and overall feel that I’m doing very well. By now I have a good understanding of my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to independent learning and know how to navigate the ups and downs while still being successful. I enjoy my differing projects and what they entail, I’ve planned out the rest of the year and am doing my best to be honest with myself, my peers, and my advisors. From Izzy Giammusso: Last year was my first time ever doing an independent learning study, so this is all relatively new development in my life, even though it doesn’t feel like it. I think that I’m getting the hang of what matters in this kind of program. Sophomore year I really focused on time management, planning ahead, and taking care of my health. I feel like at this point I understand those aspects of my learning, and now I’m able to branch out a little more. This quarter, the biggest take away for me is that connections are everything. Being a shy person, in the past I have never really been good at reaching out to people and making lasting and impactful connections. But this year, I feel like I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and getting to know a lot of new people. From Jake Bruccoli-Langlois: This Quarter has been one of the most academically thrilling and engaging times that I have had in awhile. In addition to my more content based learning, I have also learned how important setting challenging but attainable three week goals is and how important trial and error is. I mention these two things because when working on my first set of three week goals, which were to watch the “Ed Talks,” watch the Khan Academy videos, read the book History of Italian Renaissance Art and take notes about it. Upon accomplishing these goals I promptly made my next set of three week goals, because I understood how important goal setting was to my learning process. I also don’t think that I would have learned as much, because I probably would have gotten stuck trying to figure out what was happening during the Renaissance. From Madison Roberge: My bouncing around on how to go about my culture study shows my continuous reflection on my interests. Currently I have sticky notes on the wall next to my desk with questions I feel are too big to ask in an interview. I call these questions for pondering, and find they often guide me in smaller questions. Currently the two up there are, How does culture change and what do we have control over? Why is the northern hemisphere often more progressive and developed than the southern hemisphere? From Nathaniel Rice: In terms of successes, i’ve been rocking and rolling. One of my most notable successes is my improvement in art. About up until almost 3 years ago, I never really took art seriously. I then started drawing various fictional characters that I had came up with, but as my art evolved, my interests changed. I left my “edgy phase’’ after deciding that it didn’t fit my experience level (you can only make edgy art if you’re GOOD at it) and decided to do something else - animals. Three years later I am drawing animals of all sorts: animals of the past and present. But I still wanted to create, to invent. And that’s where this project came in. I leapt at the chance to finally take part in an art genre that had fascinated me for years.
The snow continues to fall. The flakes are heavy right now. Enjoy the lightness that these flakes bring and when you find a chance, please stoke the fire.
Be well, amyK p.s. I did have the nickname "Arson Amy" for a while as a kid. I got caught lighting fires on the playground when I was eight years-old. If you need help getting the fire started, please let me know. I am good at this because I've been practicing for a while. Last note: Certain students do not have a narrative excerpt here because I can't find their narrative. Please help by reminding them to put it in the right place.
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