Embrace your Discomfort

My new backyard/view from Shaaman

 “Embrace your discomfort”

This past (nearly) week has been an experience of a lifetime and it has only just begun…but I’ll into that later.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m off on another adventure and will attempt to update this blog every so often. Last time (in Michigan) I focused more on my internal development: Who am I? What do I want? Am I okay? This time I anticipate professional growth and decisions: How will I start an afterschool program? How can I be more experiential and project-based? Where will I go? I also imagine I will have a collection of student quotes, which I can’t wait to share!

Back to this week: If I was to write about all the things we have done so far, this would be an essay. Do you want to read an essay? I didn’t think so. Here are some highlights:

•         Laying on a picnic table under the stars for hours just relaxing - Friday
•         Stopping to pee and seeing an entire arts festival – Saturday afternoon
•         Telling everyone I snore and sleep talk before choosing roommates – Saturday night
•         Having a $500 budget to spend on (at least) one week’s worth of meals for 12 people. This was more nerve racking than you think. – Sunday night
•         Life Maps – Monday and Tuesday
•         Learning to accept and embrace my own discomfort – Tuesday (I think)
•         Tour of Estes Park, icecream and meeting four students – Tuesday night
•         Sharing values, playing volleyball and discussing course possibilities with my IS (instructional specialist – aka: teacher and mentor) – Wednesday
•         Hanging out with my house parents (although not living with students, we are divided into houses, like Harry Potter) – Wednesday night
•        ROCKCLIMBING SHAAMAN!!!! Three different sides and levels of difficulty – Thursday
•         ????? – TBD 

Look at the small figures - this is what we climbed.

The view of Eagle Rock School from Shaaman. I live down there!

I am completely and utterly excited about this year. It’s a time filled with anticipation, fear, excitement, love, overwhelming moments and adventure. I’ve already learned so much from the staff and fellows and I cannot wait to learn a world from the students. This year I will embrace all my fears, doubts and discomfort to be the best person I can be.

What will you embrace?

Jenn