26 March 2018 Arriving in the Arctic: PolarTREC Orientation.

I've been Accepted!

The “Congratulations, you have been selected” email made my day. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I knew I had to take. My principal agreed. In the weeks before orientation, my students had many questions. Where was I going? Why was I going? Did I feel safe on the boat? Did we collect the jellyfish or throw them back? One student was very concerned that the other people on the boat might not talk to me. “Ms. Chierici, If they are mean to you, send me an email and I will tell them to be nice to my teacher!” They were so excited. We spent the last couple of lessons before orientation looking at maps of Alaska, going over how I would get there and them telling me to go and enjoy, they could cope for a few days without me. Personally, I wasn’t so sure!

The Journey

Alaska is so far away from New Jersey. I realized this on the first flight to Seattle. It was about 4 hours into the flight somewhere over Minnesota and I thought to myself, I am not even close to halfway. A friend pointed this out to me during the flight. (Apparently you can text on Alaska Airlines!) I felt deflated. This all changed when I boarded my second flight to Anchorage. Window seats are so much better and the views were spectacular. My only wish was that the area was labeled like a Google map so I could identify the land features. After a short flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks, I was re-energized and excited to be here. Meeting such a wonderful group of like minded educators at orientation made me appreciate what a wonderful opportunity this is for myself and in turn, my students.