24 March 2013 The Future is Now! And I'm a little overwhelmed...

I'm spending the summer WHERE?

Holy cow. When I was selected to become a PolarTREC teacher, I was excited beyond words…spending the summer in Alaska doing research that I can effortlessly integrate into my 7th grade curriculum? And it’s totally FREE? Are you kidding me? Who wouldn’t be excited? But then, well, life took over and it sort of moved to the back burner. I mean, I was accepted in December and I wouldn’t be heading out on my expedition until July. Suddenly making dinner plans for that weekend became a much more pressing issue. Seriously. Reservations at good restaurants in Chicago can be hard to get.

Slowly time crept forward, and all of a sudden I was in contact with PolarTREC’s resident travel guru, Julie, arranging my flight to Fairbanks. My students had asked how many miles it was between Chicago and Fairbanks (hint: it’s a lot), but I don’t think it sunk in until I saw the number of hours it would take me to get there. That’s when I decided I should stay an extra few days to soak in the culture – literally. I’m hitting the hot springs after orientation is over. C’mon, its spring break, so doesn’t that mean that I am required to wear a bathing suit at some point during the week?

So now I’m here, and this whole idea of “far off in the future” has rushed to the present…if you don’t count the 3 hour flight delay between Anchorage and Fairbanks. I suppose that was just a way to prepare me for the unpredictable nature of life in the field. Once we were in the air, I saw Mt. McKinley from the plane, and all of sudden it hit me. Whoa. I'm really doing this. Instantly, all of the excitement I felt in December came rushing back. What will this experience be like? How will this change my teaching and classroom? All of these questions came bubbling to the surface...but mostly I started to worry. Can I hack this? I am cut out for this?

Then I met Mark, Paula, Yamini and Obed at baggage claim. Within 5 minutes, it was easy to feel a kinship with people I barely knew – and that only intensified at orientation today. How was I lucky enough to be selected to be a part of this remarkable group? The teachers here are phenomenal, and I’ve only known them one day! I’ve already had some of the best conversations around teaching science that I’ve had in years. I am so excited to get back into my classroom and share my enthusiasm with my students!