Category Archives: Eleutheros

Eleutheros

April 7, 2013 teamcomm 1 Comment

The Ecology, Histories, and Literature Departments have collaborated on a series ongoing personal reflective essays called Eleutheros. Each week students are asked to write a reflective essay that demonstrates their understanding of the themes from their coursework and effectively links these themes to their unique thoughts and experiences. For each essay, students are asked to answer a new interdisciplinary prompt which inspires an integrated reflection on class learning. Our final essay asked students look at their academic semesters holistically and consider the value of their learning. In the coming weeks, look forward to some articulate examples of how our students have deeply and personally engage with these essential questions. This week’s prompt: What is your worldview, how did it come to be, and has it been changed, challenged or enforced since you arrived at The Island School?

By Brayden Beardsley

Having grown up in a rural town in Maine, I feel that I was sheltered from the world until I grew older. The first time I ever realized that not everyone saw things how I did was when I was six years old in Rennys. A man walked into the store carrying a small bag and was asked to leave it at the front of the store. I looked up at my mom who was also carrying a small bag, and asked her why the man had to leave his bag at the front of the store and she didn’t. She responded that some people don’t trust people who are black and that she didn’t have to leave her bag at the front of the store because the man working at the store was something called prejudice, a term a didn’t understand at the time. All I knew was that the man had been treated differently for some reason and that was wrong.

For me, my world view means how I perceive what happens around me based on my outlook and values; much like the “lens” that we talked about during our first Human Ecology class. Even from a young age, I had very strong values and morals because the aspects of my life that have affected my world view are what I care about the most. Collectively, my parents, Akihisa, Biruk and Eden, and Tom and Brandon have all worked accidentally or intentionally to shape my lens in which I view the world through.

One of my most vivid memories of Akihisa (our exchange student from Japan) was when we were just sitting on his bed talking about anything that came to mind. He told me about the differences between our cultures; how no one ever hugged anyone else (even family members), how when you reached five years old, you couldn’t use the flavored toothpaste anymore or cry unless you were physically injured, how everyone was an atheist but they all believed in ghosts, how pigs were said to say “boo, boo” instead of “oink, oink”, the list went on and on. I realize now, especially after our Histories class on the Nacirema tribe that was actually describing America, that it is very easy to judge a culture at a glance and be slightly ethnocentric, but to truly understand it, you have to delve deeper, as I was able to do with Akihisa after staying with him for a year. Continue reading →

Eleutheros

March 24, 2013 teamcomm

The Ecology, Histories, and Literature Departments have collaborated on a series ongoing personal reflective essays called Eleutheros. Each week students are asked to write a reflective essay that demonstrates their understanding of the themes from their coursework and effectively links these themes to their unique thoughts and experiences. For each essay, students are asked to answer a new interdisciplinary prompt which inspires an integrated reflection on class learning. Our final essay asked students look at their academic semesters holistically and consider the value of their learning. In the coming weeks, look forward to some articulate examples of how our students have deeply and personally engage with these essential questions. This week’s prompt: What does it mean to be oriented to a place? How does your orientation week at The Island School relate to the mission of the school?

Franchesca Bethel:

Listen to the sounds you cannot hear. The ones your eyes can transform into vibrating echoes of music.

Clank Clank Clank! A tiny metal stick bounces violently against the walls inside a rusted yellow cowbell, and makes a clanking sound that creates a beautiful harmony with the bass of the goatskin drums. You would never expect two distinct sounds, clanking and booming bass to harmonize so well together, but they just do. Whistles and horns are played along with the clanking and booming, and still the sound is perfect. Your ears are too small to hold the sound. The vibrations escape your ear canals and start to send electric shocks all over your skin until the booming from the drum turns to the booming of your heart and that booming becomes the same rhythm which your body receives blood. That collection of vibrating clanks, booming, horns and whistles is the sound of Junkanoo, the sound that is echoed throughout the history of the Bahamas. The sound I heard when I was oriented to my culture.

In the Bahamas, Junkanoo is a celebration that was started many years ago. It is a celebration that was originally an expression of freedom. Continue reading →

Eleutheros

December 6, 2012 admin

The Human Ecology, Histories, and Literature Departments have collaborated on a series ongoing personal reflective essays called Eleutheros. Each week students are asked to write a reflective essay that demonstrates their understanding of the themes from their coursework and effectively links these themes to their unique thoughts and experiences. For each essay, students are asked to answer a new interdisciplinary prompt which inspires an integrated reflection on class learning. Our final essay asked students look at their academic semesters holistically and consider the value of their learning. In the coming week, look forward to some articulate examples of how our students have deeply and personally engage with this essential question. The prompt: So What? Why does what you have learned in your classes matter?

by Chris Foote

So what? It is hard to say when I’m still learning so much about this world and my self. When first considering what to write on for this assignment, I was at a loss for words. Then, as I looked out onto the pristine, blue ocean, the last line left Ashley’s mouth and lingered in the air: “When he left the beach the sea was going on” (Walcott, 325). This triggered something deep in my mind, and I thought of all I have learned here. First, I thought of the complexity of the life underneath the monotonous waves on the surface and its surfaces; then, of how that life is threatened by fisheries today. I thought of Tito’s dilemma, the Mexican Fisherman who we learned about from Brady, and understood how he was conflicted between his family and the sea; of Hector’s burial, the swift, the sea-almonds; of the empty Spanish bottle landing on Cotton Bay after a long journey at sea. And at that moment, I realized: I am invested in my education. Continue reading →

Eleutheros, Uncategorized

Eleutheros

December 2, 2012 admin

by Ryan Schendel:

My parents always told me it started when I was four years old. According to them, we were sitting on a plane on the way to North Carolina, and I turned to my dad and asked him a question. Apparently, it was a basic question like, “Where are we going?” and “How big is this plane?” In the number of times I have heard this story from my parents, they always exaggerate more and more, but as I have been told, by the time we had landed, I had asked them hundreds of questions over the course of two hours. My dad always told me how exasperating it became, but he and my mom were glad that I turned out to be a curious boy.

I have been asking questions throughout my entire life. I always look at the world as a great wealth of information that I can learn about through asking. My teachers at school tell my parents every year that they’re amazed at how inquiring I can be and how often I ask questions, even if it eventually bothers them. My grandmother, who used to be a high school English teacher herself, has always told me, “Don’t stop your questions. You can always learn something new, you just have to ask.”

Reflecting on my life before The Island School, I came to believe that I arrived on Eleuthera because I was curious. My sister embarked on a semester in 2010, and she returned home as someone who I did not recognize anymore. She had changed in positive but drastic ways, and seemed to be extremely happy in regards to her time here. I wanted to know why. I did not want to only hear her stories about The Island School. I needed to come here and experience it myself. Continue reading →

Eleutheros

May 8, 2012 admin 1 Comment

Prompt:

1. What does it mean to “marry your heart to your right hand?” (Omeros 72). Who lives this way? Do you? Should you?

Abby Anderson:

When I talk to my grandmother, she often tells me about weaving. She has been weaving for most of her life, was the President of the New Hampshire Weavers’ Guild, and goes to weaving conferences around the country where she shows her work and sees others’ work. In her little two-bedroom house, she dedicated an entire room to weaving, filling it with her loom and supplies. When my grandmother talks about weaving, I notice an important quality in her voice that perpetuates her love of weaving: passion. To find one’s passion and to be passionate are two goals that many people strive for throughout their lives. This passion makes up the essence of what it means to “marry your heart to your right hand,” (Omeros, 72). Continue reading →

Eleutheros

April 20, 2012 admin

Prompt: What does it mean to have roots? How do roots and ancestry affect one’s understanding of self and others? How do they affect sense of belonging to a place?

Will Gold: What it means to have roots can mean many things but what they all lead up to is today. Roots are what give today integrity. Your ancestry, where you’re from and how you came to be where you are today are all part of your roots. Roots give you the strength to face tomorrow with the same sense of hope that you had for today. They create your worldview and who you are before you even know what hit you.

To some, having roots is to know and understand their family lineage. Mr. Pinder (the man my group was assigned to interview on Settlement Day) would say, “Roots are your father, your father’s father and your grandfather’s father and so on for as long as you can remember.” When we asked how he thought this effected who he was today he said “It doesn’t affect who I am it only affects who you think I am.” This implies that roots can be a way to stereotype people based on success and that society often judges people differently according to their roots. Is it an honor or prejudice to be standardized by your roots? I suppose that all depends on where you came from.

In research class we explored the idea of shifting baselines. Continue reading →

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Eleutheros

April 3, 2012 admin 3 Comments

Prompt: Why is the sea valuable? Discuss different individual and cultural perspectives on the sea. Consider how your life experiences, as well as your learning in Histories, Literature, and Human Eco have impacted how you understand the value of the world’s oceans.

Mac McDonald:

My paddle dug into the muddy waters of the Mekong Delta, as I maneuvered amongst the floating homes. The children waved from the doorway of their school. Their school pitched in the ripples made by our canoes. The plastic jugs and Styrofoam, keeping the structure afloat, grumbled and moaned. Behind them I could see the desks, world maps, and chalkboard. Underneath the homes lay a world of sustainability. Giant nets filled with fish created the possibility of all this happening by creating an income for the village. Observing this world and perceiving how they utilize the sea through transport, income, religion, and as a base for their home, completely changed my thoughts on the ocean. I was able to realize how diverse the value of the sea truly is and in how many ways it can be manipulated for use. Continue reading →

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Eleutheros

March 29, 2012 admin

Prompt: What is your worldview, how did it come to be, and has it been changed or challenged since you arrived at The Island School?

by Lucy Cram:

I sit on the girl’s dorm deck looking out at the stars that shine more numerous and brightly than at home orNew Jersey, and the soft breeze drifts across my face and legs and I feel peaceful. The twinkling specks in the distance take me back to a spring morning ten years ago, when my father woke me up atfour a.m.to watch a meteor shower. I remember half sleepwalking to our dock, all the while wishing I were back in bed; however, as soon as I saw the shooting stars speed by me in such numbers, I was awake and happy. My dad has always tried to pass his love for the little things in nature along to me. Continue reading →

Eleutheros

October 29, 2011 admin

This year, the Human Ecology, Histories, and Literature Departments have collaborated on a series ongoing assignments. Each week students are asked to write a reflective essay that demonstrates their understanding of the themes from their coursework and effectively links these themes to their unique thoughts and experiences. Enjoy reading how our students have deeply and personally engage with essential questions, important to their course of study at The Island School…

Last Weeks Prompt: How has your experience within the Literature and Histories curriculum challenged the way you understand History and the past?

“Inspired by History” by Kate Maroni

I have studied history throughout my ten years as a student, yet one historical account remains the most prominent in my mind. My grandfather, Jacques Maroni, immigrated to theUnited Statesduring World War II because of the cultural oppression that existed inFranceat the time. He and his older brother were forced to leave their home at the ages of seventeen and nineteen. They both spoke very little English, which hindered their assimilation into the American education system. Eventually my grandfather was able to earn a spot at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and worked remarkably hard in the ensuing years. My grandfather has told me his historical background many times, and each time I am left feeling thoroughly impressed and exceptionally grateful. The emotions that are evident in my grandfather’s voice as he recounts his incredible life story allow me to appreciate the hardships that he has overcome in order to give our family the life that we have today. At The Island School, I have come to understand the reason why his historical background is so compelling in my mind. My grandfather’s story includes such powerful emotions, which enable me to better understand the level of difficulty he faced. Historiographers refrain from including emotion in their work in order to eliminate bias, however the reader is left without any real sense of emotion or personal account of what happened. The reader therefore is unable to grasp anything beyond the literal context. There have been many moments throughout my Literature and Histories classes when I have felt especially inspired by history, and all of these moments have included profound emotions. Continue reading →