This past semester, we’ve learned so much. From learning how to read Omeros to learning how to make bush tea from Joseph, we have gained so much knowledge. And yesterday, we had the task demonstrating all of that knowledge within 15 minutes. There was no set format for the demonstration, and so it was amazing to see the creative ways that other students came up with to show what they’v learned. Students made movies, monologues, tours of campus to show what they have learned this semester. One student’s that I especially liked read parts of her journal in certain parts of the semester to show the challenges she faced and how she overcame it. Many of these demonstrations were also emotional, especially because they marked the end of our semester. But I, for the most part, have managed to save the tears for the last day. For my Demonstration of Learning, I took my advisory up to the second floor deck of the faculty offices to reminisce about how far we had come. That same deck was where our advisory first came together in our initial “who am I?” presentations. Now, after three months, it was interesting to see how much we’ve changed, developed, and bonded together.

My time here has been a life-changing experience, and I am sure this is the case for everybody else. There have been so many good memories of this wonderful community and it’s difficult to wrap up these memories in words. From arriving on campus, the first run-swim, 3-day kayak, eleutheros, down island, 8-day kayak, hurricane Sandy, the half-marathon, the super-swim, human ecology projects, research symposium, and finally, the Demonstration of Learning. There have been so many challenges that we’ve overcome together as a community and its hard to think that on Thursday each one of us will be leaving this community to go our separate paths. I hope that one day this community will come together again to share these memories, challenges, experiences.

This is the last student update for the semester. Today, we’ll begin the transitioning from the Island School environment to back home. And tomorrow, we will end the semester with the jump off of High Rock, community day, and lastly graduation. Soon after that, we’ll be heading back home, forever changed by this experience.