I'm the Type of Girl that Looks you dead in the Eye.
It's been a while since I posted. Somehow it doesn't feel right to post about my California experiences while I'm sitting on the computer in my own bedroom, never mind that the reason I am home is for an outreach trip on the east coast. Perhaps that's why I am only just now updating about my current adventures. I'm currently sitting at Bean Traders Coffee in downtown Durham, NC, attempting to make connections with people in North Carolina and looking ahead to my trip to Philadelphia at the end of the month. Let me rewind some first before I get into the present though.
So, I flew in on Halloween. I really think I just have one of those faces that invites conversation by my airplane seat-buddies, because for about the first two hours of the flight the guy to my right was talking to me. Don't get me wrong, he was perfectly friendly and seemed like an interesting guy, but I would have preferred to sleep. He eventually fell asleep and snored like a throwback to grandpa's nighttime weezing. Sike - it wasn't that bad, but when it's right in my ear and the seats are uncomfortable enough as it is, I could definitely have done without it. There were some delays (I'm beginning to think my presence invites those as well) and I ended up getting to BWI an hour and half later than originally planned, but at least it wasn't six hours like last time. Landed, got off the plane, went through the airport, saw my parents. My mother was wearing my favorite sweater that I had left home. She refuses to give it back. It's war, really.
The last two weeks have absolutely flown by; between making school visits in the Baltimore/DC area and trying to reconnect with friends, I've had a full and busy schedule. Apparently I am crap at letting people know what I'm up to, because most people don't read my blog and whatnot, so I have no idea who knows what. Some of my friends have been annoyed with me for not meeting up with them these past two weeks, before they actually call me on the phone and I have to explain to them that this is not just a vacation for me and that I'm actually here doing my job. Then I have to hear about how I didn't tell them this fact, and I just have to sigh and say I'm sorry. But honestly! There's just so many people to keep informed and it'd be hopeless for me to connect with them all. Hopefully before the end of May, when you know, I'm done and home for good, everyone will at least have an inkling about what I've been doing in California for the last ten months.
The Woolman Semester had a house party this past Sunday, hosted by Bruce and Toni Evans, parents of Anna Evans who is a Spring '07 Woolman alum. I got to meet two of the students who are already accepted and attending in the spring; they were great and I'm excited to get to know them better. There were a couple other perspectives and they seemed really excited about us as well, so hopefully we will hear more from them soon. I met a couple of students in Bmore/DC who I think might be interested with a little bit more prodding, so we'll see how that pans out too. Some of the visits I made in the Baltimore/DC area, I had to give a little blurb about the program to an audience of two to three hundred high school students and teachers. Twice, I've done that now. It's terrifying. Here's to facing my fears, yeah? High schoolers are scary. But they are slowly becoming less so, so it's definitely a good sign.
I've been in classrooms where it's so obvious how much the students respect their teachers. You can tell that she/he is going to be someone these kids remember for the rest of their lives, just like I'll remember JB and Whewell and Foster for the rest of mine. I want to be that person, I think. Kathy Devlin, high school english teacher? I haven't decided yet, but I think I could do it and do it well, if I really put my mind to it. We'll see.
So yeah, right now I am in Durham, North Carolina. It's been one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants visits. I think it was the combination of 1.) having to simultaneously schedule visits for Bmore/DC as this one, 2.) being so excited to come home and making plans with friends and 3.) not getting NC responses from my emails and phone calls, that the visit to North Carolina was a little bit pushed to the side. Ugh. As of 2:00pm on Monday afternoon, I was planning on driving down the night before my one scheduled visit and I had no idea where I was staying that night. So on a whim I gave an old friend on a holler on facebook and voila! I stayed with Suzanne McArdle in Greenville, NC, someone I hadn't seen since high school and had been friends with waaaaaay back in the day in preschool. We were YMCA buddies and our families had the most awesome play-dates, so it's been great to reconnect with her. She also hooked me up with her grad school buddy Caleb, whom I stayed with last night here in Durham. And tonight Suz's roommate, Kaci I think was her name, is going to connect me with her mom in Greensboro. Long story short, Suzanne, Caleb, and Kaci have saved me from sleeping in a van down by the river. (Anyone get the reference? Anyone?) They are awesome.
I'm sitting outside of the coffee shop, and a guy just walked by (he smelled strongly of alcohol and I think he was homeless) and said to me, "Hey girl, I want some of that." And leered. I have my headphones in, so I just presented like I couldn't hear him and smiled. Ugh.
Yesterday's visit was awesome. I met a lot of students at the New Garden Friends School, three of which I feel actually have a strong chance of following through and becoming Woolman students within the next few years. They also arranged for me to visit with the local chapter of Young Friends (the Quaker version of youth group) tonight, which is awesome and has given me today to chill in a coffee shop and send out emails for my Philly trip in two weeks. I was supposed to be making drive-bys today to local schools, but I am feeling quite under the weather at the moment and am only hanging on to not being full-on-sick by a thin thread, so I made my own decision to just sit still for most of the day. I will do drive-bys tomorrow, before driving home.
Drive-bys, by the way, are what Kathy calls making short, unannounced visits to high school guidance/college counselors to drop off materials and give a short introduction to our program. When I explained this to Caleb last night, he thought it was immensely amusing because 'drive-by' is an innately violent term and Quakers are historically known pacifists. I had never looked at it in that light, and was therefore highly amused as well.
Home tomorrow. Well, College Park anyway. College Perk has free Wifi, so I am planning on starting the drive home in the early afternoon and getting there by early evening, and parking myself for a few hours to send out some emails. Then I have the evening to chill with Bethany and Dani, Friday for Dane Cook in DC, Saturday for Rooney in Baltimore, and then a week to relax and sleep like I'm Beauty and need Prince Charming to wake me up.
It's only two weeks until I go back to California. Crazy how time flies.
So, I flew in on Halloween. I really think I just have one of those faces that invites conversation by my airplane seat-buddies, because for about the first two hours of the flight the guy to my right was talking to me. Don't get me wrong, he was perfectly friendly and seemed like an interesting guy, but I would have preferred to sleep. He eventually fell asleep and snored like a throwback to grandpa's nighttime weezing. Sike - it wasn't that bad, but when it's right in my ear and the seats are uncomfortable enough as it is, I could definitely have done without it. There were some delays (I'm beginning to think my presence invites those as well) and I ended up getting to BWI an hour and half later than originally planned, but at least it wasn't six hours like last time. Landed, got off the plane, went through the airport, saw my parents. My mother was wearing my favorite sweater that I had left home. She refuses to give it back. It's war, really.
The last two weeks have absolutely flown by; between making school visits in the Baltimore/DC area and trying to reconnect with friends, I've had a full and busy schedule. Apparently I am crap at letting people know what I'm up to, because most people don't read my blog and whatnot, so I have no idea who knows what. Some of my friends have been annoyed with me for not meeting up with them these past two weeks, before they actually call me on the phone and I have to explain to them that this is not just a vacation for me and that I'm actually here doing my job. Then I have to hear about how I didn't tell them this fact, and I just have to sigh and say I'm sorry. But honestly! There's just so many people to keep informed and it'd be hopeless for me to connect with them all. Hopefully before the end of May, when you know, I'm done and home for good, everyone will at least have an inkling about what I've been doing in California for the last ten months.
The Woolman Semester had a house party this past Sunday, hosted by Bruce and Toni Evans, parents of Anna Evans who is a Spring '07 Woolman alum. I got to meet two of the students who are already accepted and attending in the spring; they were great and I'm excited to get to know them better. There were a couple other perspectives and they seemed really excited about us as well, so hopefully we will hear more from them soon. I met a couple of students in Bmore/DC who I think might be interested with a little bit more prodding, so we'll see how that pans out too. Some of the visits I made in the Baltimore/DC area, I had to give a little blurb about the program to an audience of two to three hundred high school students and teachers. Twice, I've done that now. It's terrifying. Here's to facing my fears, yeah? High schoolers are scary. But they are slowly becoming less so, so it's definitely a good sign.
I've been in classrooms where it's so obvious how much the students respect their teachers. You can tell that she/he is going to be someone these kids remember for the rest of their lives, just like I'll remember JB and Whewell and Foster for the rest of mine. I want to be that person, I think. Kathy Devlin, high school english teacher? I haven't decided yet, but I think I could do it and do it well, if I really put my mind to it. We'll see.
So yeah, right now I am in Durham, North Carolina. It's been one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants visits. I think it was the combination of 1.) having to simultaneously schedule visits for Bmore/DC as this one, 2.) being so excited to come home and making plans with friends and 3.) not getting NC responses from my emails and phone calls, that the visit to North Carolina was a little bit pushed to the side. Ugh. As of 2:00pm on Monday afternoon, I was planning on driving down the night before my one scheduled visit and I had no idea where I was staying that night. So on a whim I gave an old friend on a holler on facebook and voila! I stayed with Suzanne McArdle in Greenville, NC, someone I hadn't seen since high school and had been friends with waaaaaay back in the day in preschool. We were YMCA buddies and our families had the most awesome play-dates, so it's been great to reconnect with her. She also hooked me up with her grad school buddy Caleb, whom I stayed with last night here in Durham. And tonight Suz's roommate, Kaci I think was her name, is going to connect me with her mom in Greensboro. Long story short, Suzanne, Caleb, and Kaci have saved me from sleeping in a van down by the river. (Anyone get the reference? Anyone?) They are awesome.
I'm sitting outside of the coffee shop, and a guy just walked by (he smelled strongly of alcohol and I think he was homeless) and said to me, "Hey girl, I want some of that." And leered. I have my headphones in, so I just presented like I couldn't hear him and smiled. Ugh.
Yesterday's visit was awesome. I met a lot of students at the New Garden Friends School, three of which I feel actually have a strong chance of following through and becoming Woolman students within the next few years. They also arranged for me to visit with the local chapter of Young Friends (the Quaker version of youth group) tonight, which is awesome and has given me today to chill in a coffee shop and send out emails for my Philly trip in two weeks. I was supposed to be making drive-bys today to local schools, but I am feeling quite under the weather at the moment and am only hanging on to not being full-on-sick by a thin thread, so I made my own decision to just sit still for most of the day. I will do drive-bys tomorrow, before driving home.
Drive-bys, by the way, are what Kathy calls making short, unannounced visits to high school guidance/college counselors to drop off materials and give a short introduction to our program. When I explained this to Caleb last night, he thought it was immensely amusing because 'drive-by' is an innately violent term and Quakers are historically known pacifists. I had never looked at it in that light, and was therefore highly amused as well.
Home tomorrow. Well, College Park anyway. College Perk has free Wifi, so I am planning on starting the drive home in the early afternoon and getting there by early evening, and parking myself for a few hours to send out some emails. Then I have the evening to chill with Bethany and Dani, Friday for Dane Cook in DC, Saturday for Rooney in Baltimore, and then a week to relax and sleep like I'm Beauty and need Prince Charming to wake me up.
It's only two weeks until I go back to California. Crazy how time flies.