The Belated First Post

When thinking about what I wanted to write about in my first blog post, I got really overwhelmed. It has been a crazy first few weeks here at The Island School and I have barely had enough time to even share it with my family and friends over the phone. (I bet you're confused because you thought I couldn't have a cellphone here, but don't be alarmed: we get one 20-minute phone call each week.)

Having this phone time has been one of the best and worst things at Island School! Besides having major FOMO to whatever is going on back in Seattle, I find it so hard to fit a whole week's worth of experiences into just 20 minutes. Luckily, I have the opportunity and outlet of this blog:

I swear it wasn't just procrastination that led me from posting on my previously promised weekly posts...each day here is SO full. As a way to catch you up, I'll try and brief what I've done over the last 30 days:

Arriving at the Nassau airport, I was pretty nervous. Customs and crossing borders have always been an anxiety-driver in the past and this time: I was by myself. Yes, there were some other students that had been on my connecting plane from Charlotte, but it was still nerve-racking. Luckily customs went smoothly and I didn't have to speed dial my parents. After going through customs, Island School had said that a blonde, British woman named Liz would "make herself known." This statement confused me because how was going to spot one blonde woman in all of the airport confusion?

Don't worry, Liz made herself known: Imagine the most cheerful, bubbly, welcoming, bright-smiled British woman you've ever met...that's Liz! In my frazzled experience coming to Nassau, Liz was exactly what I needed for reassurance that my time at The Island School was going to start out great. (Shout-out to Liz for always making me laugh and for bringing a special light to campus<3 )

We all arrived at the Rock Sound airport in Eleuthera later that afternoon. I had just packed two large duffel bags with all of the things I would need for the next 100 days. From diving fins to a full wetsuit and a sleeping bag to a mosquito net hammock, the packing list was dense. Yes, it was very difficult and time-consuming to pack these two duffels, but I can't take all the credit for packing...my mom did most of it. (When you read this mom: THANK YOU for ironing name labels onto all 96 items of clothing I brought!) This being said, I can still barely lift the two duffel bags myself.

I don't remember a lot of the details from the first week because it was such a blur. From orientation classes to advisory time, campus tours to first introductions, the first week was jam-packed! All of the students were shuffled from class to activity to exercise to class. It still feels this way and I'm writing this day 28...obviously things have cooled down since orientation week but it's still a very fast-paced environment here.

I realize that if I write the first few weeks out with full detail then this post will be tens of pages long so I'm just going to go through a few of the highlights:

Scuba-Kayak week was a mix of emotions. I had never been diving before so the idea of breathing underwater, as someone with asthma, was hard to grasp. I had also never kayaked consecutively for more than maybe two hours.

I was in K3 so my group learned how to scuba first. For three days, we went out in the water for the whole day. Six hours in the water is kind of indescribable. Besides turning to a prune, you really learn to develop a strong sense of place with the ocean. I know this sounds very hippie (a big, praised aesthetic at The Island School), but for our first unit: Systems in Nature, the notion of "Sense of Place" was very important. In this, diving gives you a special kind of freedom and weightlessness that you just can't find on land.

I didn't know this previous to diving, but apparently I am prone to ear problems from equalizing pressure in deep water. (This is related to my having had my tonsils removed when I was little and my abundance of spring hay fever.) This goes to show why I've bruised my ear canal twice, had an inner ear infection, and had swimmers ear! This being said, I am still currently one dive away from being certified...but less about me and more about my semester experience so far!

Kayak was a little hectic...I landed myself in the group that paddled the farthest distance and had the strongest winds! This means one of the days we had a 3.5-mile crossing! My boat turned out to not be well-weighted, so in the wind, I kept turning to the left. Having to then overcompensate back into the wind for the entire crossing was not fun to say the least. None the less, the camping part was really fun. I've always been a huge fan of camping, especially when it involves people you already really enjoy spending time with and others that you can get to know better!

After Scuba-Kayak week, academic weeks started! At Island School, we take the following classes: applied maths, seminar, research, marine ecology, literature & writing, histories, and environmental art. I really like all my classes and I think I speak for all of the other ISSP'19 students when I say the teachers are phenomenal. "Teacher" is not a strict term at Island School...teachers are our advisors, group leaders, chaperones, dive-buddies, coaches, running partners, van drivers, friends, and much more!

Academic weeks have, like I said before, been really fast-paced!! Each night, the dorms turn into studying quarters where computers are sprawled out over the beds and headphones playing ten different genres of music are blasting in ears. I think that each class is really interesting so it's easy to be intrigued in doing my homework but the sheer quantity in the given time we have is what's overwhelming. I'll talk more about each specific class maybe in another post but for now I'll just clue you in on one of my favorite classes: research!

My research group is Aquaponics and if you haven't heard of it before, I would highly suggest looking it up! Aquaponics is a combination of traditional hydroponics and recirculating aquaculture! It is hugely different from traditional hydroponics because it grows nutrient-full plants by using fish waste as fertilizer in a closed-loop cycle of water systems and grow beds! I could honestly write about Apon for a long time but my favorite part of it is how transferable it is! An aquaponics system can be built virtually anywhere so the opportunity of Aquaponics in modern permaculture and sustainable farming is golden!

I think Apon research is especially cool because the work we are doing is real research that will benefit future Island School students by making it more food secure and less import-reliant. Our research topic this semester is related to the issue of successfully growing lettuce during the extreme heat of the summer! Our research question is: How can we cool down the Aquaponics systems in order for lettuce to successfully be grown during the summer? I'm really excited for this semester's research and hope that our work can provide real help to the greater Island School community!

With 72 days left, I know there is a lot to look forward to still at Island School! I've included some pictures with this post and I'll explain them here: Some of the pictures are from a service trip that my class group took last week to scrape old paint and re-paint a bus stop! Other pictures are from Scuba-Kayak week, Apon research class, and other fun activities from throughout the past 30 days. I'm really excited to share it with whoever may be reading this now or checking on my blog in later days! I hope this first post was interesting, engaging, and fun to read! Hopefully y'all stay in touch and check back in next time I post!

Big shout-out to all the real ones back home <3 love you all! (And to my advisor Ella for letting me maintain this blog while in the Bahamas!!)