It's Not Goodbye, It's See You Later...

Well everybody, this is it. Try to hold back the tears. We really appreciate everybody who took the time to read a post, or keep up with the blog daily. It is really nice to know that people are interested in what we were doing here, and want to know more about it. Our blog started off more as a mandatory assignment to complete our journaling portion of student-teaching. Before long, it was more of a diary and something we can all look back on in the future and be thankful we took the time to write.

Our day is pretty mapped out today. The 3 girls are already at the middle school right now, finishing up last minute things. Around 3 pm (6 pm your time), we are going to check in our bags and get our boarding passes. Here in Barrow, you can come and go as you please after checking in, because you only go through security right before you get onto the plane. Once the bags are checked in, we will head back to the college for our room check outs and one last meal before our departure. Our flight out leaves around 8 pm tonight, and we already know of a handful of people who will be on the plane with us. A lot of teachers are done with their end of the year work, and will be flying out to head home for the summer. Our first stop is in Anchorage. From Anchorage, we will then fly to Seattle. After about a 3 hour layover in the middle of the night in the upper Northwest, we will board our final plane and head back home to Minneapolis.

There were times when a lot of us could not wait to get home, be back to what is comfortable, and stick to what we know. But I'm sure I can speak on behalf of the group when I say that we are really going to miss this place. It has grown on me a lot personally, and I am going to be really sad to fly out of here. I really cannot say if I will ever be back here again, and that is a hard pill to swallow. You never realize how big of an impact you have on the students until it is time to leave. The kids here make you feel so special and like what you are doing is worthwhile. You don't get that much back in Minnesota, at least not to the degree that you do here. Justin and I had kids from the 1st, 2nd, 5th grades (all of which we never taught) that came up to us, knew our names and said goodbyes. I'm sure it was the same for the girls, where we can say with much certainty that we made an impact on these kids and they most definitely made an impact on us. There were good days, bad days, great days and horrible days. But you know what? We did it. We came to the top of the world, immersed ourself into the Inupiaq culture, and made our presence known. It is experiences like these that help us grow and help shape us who we are.

Best,

Travis

A special thanks to Steve Culbertson for guiding us and making sure everything was in order throughout this whole trip. He took a lot of time out of his schedule to make sure we were in good hands and where we were supposed to be. Without him, who knows how it would have gone.

Thanks to Tony Bissen and Steve Gillespie for graciously opening their house to us for a few nights to just come and unwind. They really went above and beyond with the meals, games, and just a place to go when you needed something new. It was really nice to hear all of their advice and observations about Barrow.

Thanks to our cooperating teachers and staff members. It is never easy to mentor somebody, especially while trying to teach a class at the same time. This is probably one of the most crucial times in our teaching careers. Without their willingness to invite us into their classroom, we cannot grow as teachers.

Lastly, thanks to Gustavus for making this possible. From itinerary dates, to plane tickets and setting up everything from meal cards to bus rides. It was nice to know that even 3,000 miles away from home, there were people engaged in what we were doing here in Barrow.

Thank you everybody for your support! We hope you enjoyed the blog and our adventures.

Travis Spaeth, Rachel Anderson, Justin Helget, Molly Koppel, Alyssa Fitzgerald