Trade Winds

It's strange to be done. Final exams have been marked and semester grades have been submitted. Attendance has been tallied and totaled (sigh--so many absences). All that's left is graduation on June 3rd. It will be good to see my students again, all in one place. The graduation will be held outside, on the track. It will almost certainly rain. I will almost certainly forget my rain jacket. Hopefully I won't have to take photos with my underwater camera. (Sure, it could be sunny, but this is Pohnpei. The odds are not in our favor.)

However, I will appreciate the closure and my heart will swell with pride when my students amble across that stage. In a society where education is undervalued (sorry, but it's true) and parental support is just not there (how can we change this?), this is not a trivial accomplishment. Several of my students already have children of their own. Will they read to their kids and help them with their math homework? I really hope so. Teaching in Pohnpei has been an unbelievable experience, and I have learned so much from my students, but I think it is time for me to move on. Another year at PICS High School might kill me. Onward!

Next week, I start an internship at the Conservation Society of Pohnpei. Hopefully it will turn into a paid job, fingers crossed, but I'm just going to go with the flow for now. I'll be focusing on communication and policy--not exactly sure what it will entail, but that's part of the fun. I am really, really excited to have something interesting and meaningful to do again. Since school ended, I've been floating about, a little aimless. Although for the last few days, I have been working with a friend at the GEAR-UP grant, helping to develop curriculum for a LEGO Engineering Summer Camp for seventh graders. I've been writing lessons...and playing with LEGOs. Super cool. I actually enjoy writing curriculum and making lesson plans, for the most part. What I really dislike is grading. So boring. No more of that, for now.

Plenty changes. Hopefully this will all work out.