Day 75, 29 October 2014
At 7:16 AM
I am sitting outside of my cabin at Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School.
I am not sure what to write, mostly because the kids are up and I cannot hear
myself think over the cacophony. It is amazing how none of these kiddies have
any volume control. They scream to each other first thing in the morning, they
scream to my cabin co-leader and I, they scream their answers to the teacher in
class, they scream in the showers, they scream in the cafeteria, and they
scream in the bathrooms. So it's hard to take the children seriously when I
hear them scream to their friends to please talk (let's be real, it's
screaming) a bit quieter.
This is
leadership that ECOEE has not prepared me for. Maybe if I'd seen Jeff lead
these little psychos I would have some idea. But I have this gut feeling that
simply sitting back, asking, "what do you think?" and shaking my head
is not the way to deal with these small people.
I did not
join ECOEE at the same time as everybody else, so the decision to spend a week
24/7 (or at least most of it) and unable to escape from these kids is not mine.
I'm not pointing fingers, but to me, if your map says "here there be
witches" in some woods, you don't go into those woods. If you do, you get
what Hansel and Gretel got in the original--Death. In much the same manner, if
you hear, "locked in a cabin with 5th graders and unable to leave for the
better part of a week," you, well, you know the old
saying--"Nope!"
[I can hear
my cabin co-leader having issues, pardon me while I break to help.]
My bad, the
kids were screaming because Hunter is putting war paint on their faces. I
mis-interpreted their vocalizations. They're crazy.
I have
literally nothing insightful to say about this week. It is all about survival.
And I guess it only makes sense that my favorite week of ECOEE is followed by
the (in my opinion, obviously) worst.
I hope that
Maximus is not like this when he is 10.
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