It’s hard to believe that we are already so close to the end of the second academic week. The days are flying by so fast, it’s crazy. We have some special guests on campus for the rest of the week and this weekend; The Island School Alumni Board is visiting for some meetings and to participate in the Monster Run-Swim this weekend. At meals they sit with us and share their experiences at The Island School as well as listen to us talk about what it’s been like thus far for us. It’s nice to get some insight from someone who’s already been where we are. They’ve been joining us in morning exercise to prepare for the (roughly) 5 mile run and 1 mile swim that constitutes the monster of an event. For those of us who are not quite as daring, there is also an option to do a sprint Run-Swim – basically a shorter version of the Monster – to try to beat our personal best times. Needless to say, this Saturday is going to leave both us and our guests pretty tired and ready for a Sunday of rest.

We’ve started our first project in Art class and personally, I’m really excited (which is not something I usually am for an Art project). We recently watched a video about Andy Goldsworthy and his ephemeral artwork, so our teachers have assigned a project inspired by his work. Every student picked an outdoor studio space, and we have to create a sculpture that uses only natural materials. Ephemeral art is art that is not meant to last, so the idea is that we’re merely manipulating the natural materials that are already present. Over time, nature will continue to rearrange the materials we used in our piece. To preserve our sculptures, we’re also supposed to take pictures of them at various stages of their creation, and then of course, a picture of the final product. As I said, I usually don’t enjoy art very much, but so far this project is just so much fun. I attempted to capture my appreciation of the natural environment in my post on Tuesday, but words hardly do it justice. It is for this reason that I’m so excited to work with the materials naturally provided by this unique environment; it’s a very different way to get to know this place and the little, beautiful things it has to offer that we may often take for granted.