Hey everyone! I hope Thanksgiving was a time for relaxation and feasting on amazing food, like it was here. The past twenty-four hours have been a blast for Island Schoolers, along with some bitter sweet feelings as this semester draws to a close. We have finished our last Human Ecology block working on our Change Bombs and prepping for our final presentations. My group, underwater sculpture, is putting together our last clips from our dive and installation of our project Wednesday morning. We have made a 9 by 4 by 1 pyramid out of square blocks which we have assembled in the Saddle, right off sunset beach. Seeing all the other Change Bombs that other groups have made is exciting, and people, including me, are starting to get butterflies in their stomach as presentations loom ever closer.

After lunch, we headed over to Deep Creek Middle School for the annual Basketball Jamboree. It was cooler and there were showers here and there setting a huge contrast from our normally blazing hot Community Outreach days. However, once we were with our buddies and everyone was settled on their respective team, the fun began. There was food, drinks, basketball, dodgeball, football, and dancing. Music was blaring and spirits were high. Coupled with the excitement and festive atmosphere from this holiday, I saw that everyone was enjoying themselves and bonding with their buddies, who we will be saying bye to for the last time today. This sad thought only added to the festivities and we played and ate till 4:30. After our ‘goodbyes’ and see-you-tomorrows’ we went back to Campus for advisory were we worked on our upcoming DOL’s and Portfolios.

All the day’s events were leading up to our Thanksgiving feast. We moved the tables on the deck into horseshoe formation, so we could sit family-style and filled our plates with turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing, and mashed potatoes (or clouds as I call them at home). People were laughing and having fun throughout the meal and talking about the days to come. The meal ended with a delicious pumpkin pie to rival any grandmother’s special recipe topped with frosting. An amazing end to an amazing day. Thanksgiving might have been different this year for many of us students as it was, at least for me, the first time being away from home on this holiday. This did not stop us however from having one of the best days this semester enjoying this holiday from afar.