by Cacique Jane Drinkard

Seeing the blue roofs ahead of us while driving in the van after 8 long days of kayak was both exciting and sad. It marked the end of our kayak journey and the beginning of the rest of our semester here at The Island School. I thought back to the feeling I had the first time I saw the campus and I recognized that same sense of freshness. It was almost unfamiliar now that we had been through kayak. It was almost as if entirely new students had arrived to take on bigger and better roles at The Island School. If there’s one thing I learned on kayak its appreciation. Appreciation for the food I shovel into my mouth without tasting, the warmth of a hug, and for the things we are able to accomplish when everyone works together. On the fourth day of kayaking, during the crunch of the midday heat, we decided to turn our kayaks into a sailboat. Honestly the first thought that came into my mind was no way this is going to work. We clumped our kayaks all together and pulled out the group tarp. Holding onto one anothers’ kayaks, linking arms the two people on the ends tied the tarp to their paddles and held their paddles up high. Surely enough, the big green tarp billowed up above our heads, catching the wind in it’s belly. As one mass of kayaks, I felt movement. We were actually sailing! The things we can accomplish when we all work together is what Island School is about. I am so grateful to be back and I can’t wait to see what we can do together as we sail into the last half of the semester.