Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Gates Mills Day 06: This is It

Today is the last day before we leave for the Bahamas! We started the day with the Bahamian National Anthem, this time without our lyric sheets. We were introduced to our Cape Eleuthera Institute hosts, Tyler Maxey and Tatum Nugent, with some personal letters they wrote to us. 


We then proceeded to reflect on the week spent at Gates Mills. Patience is an important trait to have while at the Island School because we will have to trust the process and the group in order to succeed. In order to practice patience, every student had to close their eyes and count off 1-20. Every student had to speak and could not say a number more than once or a number at the same time as another student. This was a fun exercise as it taught us teamwork and brought us closer together as a class. We later learned this would serve as a practical exercise for our class during our eleven days away from Cleveland. When going from activity to activity we are often asked to count off using our numbers from this activity to serve as a system to ensure all students are safe and present. We broke off for lunch and returned to watch 2 documentaries. One was on the infamous invertebrates and their connection to the overall development of the ocean. The other was on a famous navigator, Shackleton and the hardships him and his shipmates had to overcome to explore the Antarctic. His sheer determination and relentless optimism are lessons we can bring with us to the Bahamas to a lesser degree. When it is hard to get through the day because of a list of factors, we can think to ourselves, what would Shackleton do? 


A sweet surprise to end our last day at Gates Mills was being able to get let out early, giving us some more time to spend with our family and friends. To the Bahamas we go!


Best,
Becca and Spencer

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