“Not a Normal Day”

On a normal March day, a teenager will grudgingly drag themselves from bed to face the grey world, chew uninterestedly on whatever cereal is in the pantry, and run to school while trying to figure out what piece of homework they forgot this time. Well, not at The Island School; here your children were up at 6:00 am, ready to go for a morning exercise at 6:30, and prepared for a demanding schedule. The sun was still rising, the wind pushing orange clouds across the sky, as we began to run. The air was cold, unfitting in our tropical surroundings, yet each and every individual ran wholeheartedly at the uninviting water, ready to swim across the stormy length to the other side. We ran and swam together, tripping, helping one another, waiting at each shore until we were whole as a community. As we emerged from the trees, pushing back leaves, we saw at the other side of the next swim a wall, a wall that we would have to climb to continue our journey. Our mouths filled with salt water, yet we swam on towards the cement, ready to face the challenge. We lifted and pulled and pushed each other up over the obstacle until we all stood, together, as one community, again. The sun was higher and the sky bluer as we approached our next challenge: a cliff to jump. Two by two we jumped, some screaming, into the blue as our friends back home struggled to stay awake in their first period classes. When we finally arrived, dripping wet, hearts pumping, back at our new home, the Bahamian flag waved blue, yellow, and black above our heads, each and everyone of us filled with a sense of pride, a sense of place, that could never have been achieved anywhere else.