Jesus loves me this I know...

...not only does the Bible tell me so, but I am frequently blessed with moments in real life that are perfect assurances of His awesome love.

3hoFo ladies doing typical grad things together

So there have been moments throughout this internship experience that, despite my initial confidence, I have really questioned my decision to graduate and leave Madison early (most of these moments come while looking at pictures on Facebook of my friends having a blast doing classic college senior-y things). Spring in Madison is one of the most beautiful things in the world...hanging out on the Terrace, sleeping on Bascom, (no) Mifflin, everything. And especially this weekend, with it being graduation, the Facebook pictures were killing me. Everyone being all nostalgic in their cap and gowns, posing with Abe, hugging each other...I did all of that by myself and I've been feeling insanely jealous that all my friends are doing it together. Plus I've been really missing my Madison home a lot lately.

I've been asking myself...do all these sad emotions and feelings of regret mean that I made the wrong decision? Did I just get so excited when I saw the post for this internship that I ignored signs that Pigeon Key wasn't in His plan? Am I even supposed to be here right now?

And then it all came together a few days ago.

For the past week we've had an amazing group of 8th graders on island. They're from Cincinnati, Ohio and for most of them this trip was their first time on an airplane, at a beach, in the ocean, etc. Some of them had little to no swimming experience. Few of them had ever seen any of our invertebrates in person before. But despite their lack of experience, they all jumped right in. Each of them embraced the experience whole-heartedly, shattering comfort zones and building friendships that (I hope) will carry them through high school. By the end of the week not only were they comfortable swimmers, they were diving down 12ft to get a closer look at the reef! And by the end of the week each had made a permanent home in my heart.
Because this is their "finale" field trip for their middle school experience, the teachers and chaperones always so a really neat closing ceremony for the students. The kids spend the evening saying nice things to each other and talking about their hopes, dreams, and fears for high school. Then the teachers surprise the students with handwritten letters from their parents, and they spread out over the island to read and reflect. During all of this, the Pigeon Key staff generally stays out of their way (for the interns this means hiding in the office, the one place with internet). However this year, one teacher came to find us after the students were done with their parent letters

"Hey guys," she said, peeking her head into the office, "this is new for us, but the kids have requested that you guys join us for the last part of our closing ceremony." We all jumped up, and followed her to the meal tent.

After much organization, we followed the students as they silently processed out to the dock. We all sat in kind of a modified circle as the same teacher read a poem that beautifully summed up the PK experience from the eyes of an 8th grader. Then the teachers invited all of us to stand up one at a time and receive a blessing (public school style). After each intern had a moment with the teachers we said some silent goodbyes to the students for the night and processed back down the dock.

I don't know about you, but I found so many parallels to a graduation ceremony in there that it was like Jesus was flashing neon signs at me...Calm down little bird, you are in the right place. Do you think I would ever steer you wrong?

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

 

Now considering that I hadn't really gotten a full 8 hours of sleep in a week, and I'd been inner turmoil-ing about my life decision for twice that, it should come as no surprise to those who know me well that I was a crying mess for all of this. Sleep-deprivation and relief will do that to a person!

Why 5th Graders are the Best

So for the past few days, the island has been hosting 80 5th graders. Yes, you read that correctly, 80 5th graders. All from an orthodox Jewish private school in North Miami Beach (read: money money money...MONAAYY). A few hilarious conversations arose from our obvious socioeconomic differences...

Six of the girls and I discussing how we learned Spanish...
Girl 1: Well my family is from Venezuela, but I learned Spanish from my nanny. She's from Nicaragua.
Girl 2: Yeah, my mom and I speak it too because we're from Columbia, but my nanny is from Panama. She only knows Spanish.
Girl 3: My nanny is from Guatemala, or one of those poor countries. All nannies are from poor countries. She taught me Spanish...Emily did you learn Spanish from your nanny?
Me (in complete disbelief by this point): Guys, I never had a nanny! I was a nanny before I came here actually...
Girl 1: Oh my gosh, Emily you should come back to Miami and be MY nanny!

After I answered a phone call from my boss...
Student: what is that?
Me: What is what? oh, my phone?
Student (shocked): that's a PHONE?! I've only seen those in old movies! Wow! Dude...you should buy an iphone. I'm getting the iphone6!
Me: wait, I thought we were on the iphone5?
Student: Oh, I'm on the pre-release list.

But despite these differences, the thing I love about elementary school students is that they're still very much kids. They didn't care what my phone looked like, or that my sunglasses are all less than $10, they just want to hang out and play. We hunted for crabs and sea urchins in the tide pool, talked about 1D and Justin Beiber (who is so on his way OUT apparently), just like I did with the group from the middle-of-nowhere north Florida public school that was here last week. The other thing that I love about 5th graders is that they've still got that streak of brutal honesty that hasn't been hushed by manners yet...

Walking down the bridge with all the girls so their teacher can get a sunset group shot, one of the girls has her arm slung around my waist because she's too short to reach my shoulders...
Girl (squeezing my hip): Emily...is that your fat?
Me (mildly mortified): Hey! Yeah, it's just a little...squish...
Girl (hugging me tightly): I don't care, you're beautiful! and comfortable!


I LOVE 5th graders.