by  Haeyeon Jang

Wednesday was the first sleep-in the girls have had in a while (due to the unfortunate circumstances of the previous weeks in which food turned up in the dorm and we had to have multiple deep cleans), and they made the most of it. Quotes from the morning include “I feel alive.”—Lexi Merison, Girls North ‘Wing and “I love this, I’m never waking up.”—Maya Sands Bliss, Under my Bed.  Looking around the circle at the other 50% of the current student population on campus, it was apparent that the boys had enjoyed their sleep-in equally if not more than their female counterparts. They had rolled out of bed 2 minutes before circle—as was suggested initially by their bedraggled figures, and confirmed later by Chris Teufel.

Research was invigorating as usual. In the project I am affiliated with, the Flats Program, today was data analysis day. Also known as crash course in college statistics day. Also known as mixed joy and pain. After an eventful three hours involving markers bleeding red life-juice all over the board, various statistical terms, and tears of incomprehension, the Flats team, or those of it left on campus—Dale, Krissy, Andrew, and of course, me—was relatively confident in our capacity to create comprehensive graphs on the effect of predatory presence on the thermoregulatory behaviors of juvenile schoolmaster snapper. We’ll explain it to y’all when you get here for Parent’s Weekend. Plus I’ll make sure to show you my awesome new fly-fishing skills.

Lunch resulted in what may have been the happiest moment so far of my young life. The Human Ecology project I am in, Solar for Our Superheroes (made up of Alliea, Haeyeon, Kiley, Krissy, Nani, and Will) met with Christian Henry(co-founder of the Island School and our advisor for the project) and came away with the glorious news that Christian would be on our Board of Directors!! Christian, everyone on campus loves you, but I love you most. We’ll extrapolate on what Solar for Our Superheroes is on a later blog post, be excited, especially all those of you in MA!

We also received letters today! After Art class, all of us flooded in to the faculty office, and there was much rejoicing. Many of mine dated back from September 23^rd (oh mail system, you so silly), and it warmed my heart to know that my friends back home really cared.  Many of the letters were for students still on kayak and down-island trips, and will end up a pleasant surprise for them when they get back.

All in all, a typical Island school day. After a mass sharing session, we all went to sleep a bit earlier than usual, still thinking of the letters we’d read. I dreamed of my laptop falling into Current Cut for some reason though.

Good morning! My name is Eliza and I will be writing the blog for today. Over the weekend with K1 gone on their Kayak and K2 away on their three day down island trip to North Eleuthera, I along with the rest of K3 and K4 have been here on campus, taking most of our regular classes despite the twisted kayak schedule. Saturday afternoon started up our weekend fun. At 3:30 all of us on campus took the vans to a nearby settlement called Wemyss Bight to compete in the annual Chris Brown (Bahamian Olympic medalist) 4 mile race. After hanging around for an hour waiting for the race to begin all we could listen to was the MC saying over and over again “if you beat me you get $50, if you beat me you get $50”, so by the time the race started and ended with John Shatz coming in first, we still are waiting for him to receive his $50. After dinner at The Island School we headed back to Wemyss Bight for their Homecoming celebration. Although there wasn’t as much dancing as we expected, I think most of us Island School students were pretty content with the food stands where I got a virgin pina colada and conch fritters, finally allowing me to appreciate the Bahamian love for conch.

Over the past 24 hours the campus has been bustling with people coming and going. Yesterday K3 and K4 had our regular classes and a long research block. K2 made it back from their down island trip at around 2:00pm right before the rain came. As it started to pour all that we could think about here on campus, besides the fact that we were chilly for the first time all semester, was imagining K1 out on their 8-Day Kayak trip, trying to find shelter from the deluge. By the time everyone was back from our long research blocks, the rain cleared and K2 took advantage of their last time to shower before setting off for kayak. After dinner as K2 continued to pack up their belongings, I along with the rest of my class were working on our homework for the class we begin today called Humanities, which is a mixture of Histories and Literature. The other half of us who are in the second-class rotation, headed out for their first night dive at Tunnel Rock, dressed not in the usual bathing suit, spandex, sports bra, apparel but instead, for everyone’s first time, the wetsuits were pulled out! Everyone in racers got back to campus at around 9:30pm. All I heard was good things about the bioluminescence, swimming the tunnel and just the overall experience of diving in the dark. I can’t wait for my turn on Thursday! All right, I’m headed down to the dock to say bye to K2 as they head off on their 8-Day. Goodbye for now!

An editorial note to parents reading: though Morgen and Ella had some fun with writing this blog, rest assured that have been no fist-fights, sunk kayaks, or students forgotten on solo.

Hello parents and friends! This is Morgen and Ella, sorry if you are getting bored with our blog posts, but chores haven’t switched in a while! This past week we had Midterm meetings with each of our teachers who gave us on update on how we are doing up to this point. You also have a letter from your children coming your way, summarizing the feedback they received from Midterms.

After much anticipation, kayak groups have been posted! There is a lot of excitement around campus and only two fist-fights about groups. I (Morgen) was caught of guard by finding out I am leaving Saturday for 8-day, but I am very excited to be departing with a fun group of people led by Jon and Brady. Woohooo! Other groups will either be going on their Down Island Trip, or on campus for another academic rotation. Bombs of change are dropping all over campus after everyone’s Human Ecology Projects were approved. Projects include everything from creating underwater sculptures and cookbooks to growing medicinal herbs and revitalizing the Poo Poo Garden.

Random shouts out day!!

• Shoutout to Chris Teufel for making all the way to Deep Creek on our Tuesday run, completing nine miles!
• Shoutout to Eliza and Lyndell’s parents, your daughters had their birthdays this week in case you forgot
• Shoutout to Caroline and Ella’s parents, they made some really good gorp a few days ago
• Shoutout to Dale and Asher, leading swim- track kids on long exercise on Tuesday.
• Shoutout to Max’s parents, your son is an extremely fast sprinter.
• To Liahs parent: your daughter is a perfectionist.
• Shoutout to this week’s caciques (Colin M, Carly, Duncan, Cutter, and Chris) for saying they have a lot of fun events planned but then not following through, but its ok midterm week is overwhelming!!
• Shoutout to our very own Jason and Kate, for getting married today. The best of luck to you two.

Don’t fret if you don’t get a phone time from your child this week, they were probably forgotten at their solo, or their kayak sank. The events we have been waiting for all semester are approaching, and the mood around campus is very energized. Your children are happy and about to embark on new adventures. They miss you and are excited to see you for parents weekend. You probably won’t hear from us (Morgen and Ella) again, so it’s been nice writing to you. Bye!

by Morgen Montgomery

Hello everyone! This is Morgen again. As another week passes by, we realize the routine we have gotten used to is about to change. We have a lot to look forward to next weekend, as our first 8-day kayak group will depart, but first we must endure in midterm week. Students are scrambling to finish our last papers due Monday and Tuesday, knowing that after that we have a well-deserved break.

Yesterday the Caciques led a successful run to High Rock, similar to what we did in the beginning of the semester. Last time, we symbolically “jumped” into the semester, but this time, each student made a personal goal for the rest of the semester. This was a really nice morning because we haven’t all been together for a morning exercise in a while. Later yesterday morning, we had our community meeting. These always prove to be a highlight of each student’s week. We aim to learn more about each other, and this week we sought to learn more about how others see us. Through a process called a Johari Window, we were able to write about how we see ourselves from the outside, then what people may not visibly see, and then what others see in us. This was a powerful exercise, led by Ashley, and students were really able to bond with each other, along with faculty. During exploration time yesterday, girls were able to enjoy a deep clean of the dorms (again!!), while boys threw Jon Shatz a surprise Bachelor party. It’s safe to say he was very, very surprised. They enjoyed a nice afternoon of throwing rocks and conch shells.

Today, run- swim tracks split up once again for Saturday sprint morning. Today, we have a three-hour querencia period to look forward to, followed by history and literature classes. After a nice day of classes to end the week, we have a bonfire and night snorkel at Sunrise Beach, planned by last week’s Caciques to look forward too. Though we have a lot of work to complete for next week, everyone is looking forward to a peaceful night with the community after a tough week.

We have so much to look forward too, as the main events we have heard about constantly throughout the semester are quickly approaching us. I ensure you your children are having a great time and are working very hard to finish up strong!