One day until departure – Kenya here we come!
As I sat watching the fireworks last night, I couldn’t help but think about another fourth of July eight years ago when I watched a similar display light up the sky. I was 21 years old and the world was my oyster – in two days I was heading off to Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya. I was carefree and ready for adventure. As I sat beside my pals from high school, oohing and aahing at the bursts of light filling the sky over Cazenovia lake in upstate New York, I had no idea that the whole course of my life was about to change. In a matter of days I would land in a city that would forever hold for me a sense of “coming home”, I would meet and fall in love with a man who would three years later become my husband, and I would be challenged by a culture and way of life that values not time and tasks, but individual people’s lives.
As I sat watching those fireworks, the Patrick O’Hearn Elementary School in Boston was not even a distant thought in my mind. This school, which 7 years later became the Dr. William W. Henderson Inclusion Elementary, was nothing more to me than the name of the site where I would begin my student teaching observations in the fall. I had visited once in May, briefly meeting my soon-to-be mentor teachers, Mrs. Inge and Mrs. McDowell.
On the day of my visit, while I was telling Mrs. Inge and Mrs. McDowell about why I thought I would be a good fit for their classroom, the door swung open and a tall, lean woman with warm shoulder-length brown hair and vibrant blue eyes popped her head into the room. Before noticing me, she called out to the room 10 teachers, “I’m going across the street to grab a cold drink, does anyone want…” “Oops!” she interrupted herself when her eyes landed on me, “Sorry about that, I didn’t realize you were having a meeting!” and she glided out the door as quickly as she’d come.
Never could I have known that a little more than eight years later this same woman, Mrs. Terri Wellner, would be my “teaching partner in crime” with whom in less than 24 hours from now I will be heading off to Kenya to study tropical ecosystems and create a virtual classroom across continents – Henderson to Kilimani: The Virtual Information Project!
As I sat last night watching the fourth of July fireworks over Hyannis Port in Cape Cod, preparing to embark on another trip to Kenya, I was filled with that same sense of adventure and possibility that I had when I took my very first trip. I can’t help but reflect on how life unfolds. Life is not just a random working out of accidents and mine has far exceeded the scope of my plans. I have to wonder what this trip to Kenya may bring. What events may Terri and I encounter that will forever change the course of our lives? How will the knowledge that we gain impact our teaching? How will the project that we establish impact our students’ lives? How will what we experience and encounter grow to become more than what we could ever imagine?
As I sat watching the fireworks last night, I couldn’t help but think about another fourth of July eight years ago when I watched a similar display light up the sky. I was 21 years old and the world was my oyster – in two days I was heading off to Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya. I was carefree and ready for adventure. As I sat beside my pals from high school, oohing and aahing at the bursts of light filling the sky over Cazenovia lake in upstate New York, I had no idea that the whole course of my life was about to change. In a matter of days I would land in a city that would forever hold for me a sense of “coming home”, I would meet and fall in love with a man who would three years later become my husband, and I would be challenged by a culture and way of life that values not time and tasks, but individual people’s lives.
As I sat watching those fireworks, the Patrick O’Hearn Elementary School in Boston was not even a distant thought in my mind. This school, which 7 years later became the Dr. William W. Henderson Inclusion Elementary, was nothing more to me than the name of the site where I would begin my student teaching observations in the fall. I had visited once in May, briefly meeting my soon-to-be mentor teachers, Mrs. Inge and Mrs. McDowell.
On the day of my visit, while I was telling Mrs. Inge and Mrs. McDowell about why I thought I would be a good fit for their classroom, the door swung open and a tall, lean woman with warm shoulder-length brown hair and vibrant blue eyes popped her head into the room. Before noticing me, she called out to the room 10 teachers, “I’m going across the street to grab a cold drink, does anyone want…” “Oops!” she interrupted herself when her eyes landed on me, “Sorry about that, I didn’t realize you were having a meeting!” and she glided out the door as quickly as she’d come.
Never could I have known that a little more than eight years later this same woman, Mrs. Terri Wellner, would be my “teaching partner in crime” with whom in less than 24 hours from now I will be heading off to Kenya to study tropical ecosystems and create a virtual classroom across continents – Henderson to Kilimani: The Virtual Information Project!
As I sat last night watching the fourth of July fireworks over Hyannis Port in Cape Cod, preparing to embark on another trip to Kenya, I was filled with that same sense of adventure and possibility that I had when I took my very first trip. I can’t help but reflect on how life unfolds. Life is not just a random working out of accidents and mine has far exceeded the scope of my plans. I have to wonder what this trip to Kenya may bring. What events may Terri and I encounter that will forever change the course of our lives? How will the knowledge that we gain impact our teaching? How will the project that we establish impact our students’ lives? How will what we experience and encounter grow to become more than what we could ever imagine?
No comments:
Post a Comment