The Places You Will Be From

Back when I was in high school, a little band from Minneapolis, Semisonic, had a bit of radio success with a little tune called "Closing Time," a meandering and nostalgic alt-rock song about a bar at the end of the night.  During the chorus they sing

"every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end"

As excited as I am about the amazing opportunities coming in my move to Campinas, Brazil, in a few short weeks, it doesn't make the ending of my amazing experience in Colombia any easier.  Five years in one place is a long time.  Living in Cali now ties living in Eau Claire in longevity for places I've called home in my adult life; if leaving "EC" was a difficult transition, this has been downright heart-wrenching.

I've made a life and home here in Cali and this city, this country, my school, and all the people along the way will be a special part of my life.  As they say, "Colombia es pasión" and I've been feeling a lot of it lately...

First up, graduation of my second group here.
It was a very bittersweet day; I may have cried six a few times this day.

Congratulations, Class of 2012!!!

I am definitely going to miss a lot of these guys.

Science Department "despedida" (farewell) party.
I've been fortunate to work with so many talented and intelligent
colleagues over the years.  

One of the best 11th grade Pre-AP Biology classes I have ever had.
On the last day of classes they threw a little surprise goodbye party.
(The placement of the tree in this picture may have been a
mistake in hindsight...)

Two of my favorite ladies at work; it makes me
physically ill to think about not seeing Juliana
and Moraima every day and to work on another
show together. 

And of course I can't forget my ninth graders this year...

...they're just so...

...special.  (Which is why I love them, obviously!)

The pictures projected at the Ceremonia de reconocimiento
(Recognition Ceremony) for my five-year anniversary.

My five-year pin.
I took a picture so when it inevitably gets lost I will remember that I had it. 

Parting gift: A personalized ceramic chiva bus. 

Chiva-bus picture with the man who hired me over five years ago on a
frigid February day in Waterloo, Iowa.

Oh, and there was that time my former students
threw a "despedida" for me...at a bar.
Reason # I-don't-know thousand why I will miss this place...

Also, in the same song, Semisonic sings "time for you to out to the places you will be from."  This means two things to me: Brazil is waiting and, although I am not Colombian, you can bet if they make it to the World Cup in 2014 in Brazil, I'll be cheering proudly!

Hasta luego, Colombia...te extrañaré.
Siempre estás en mi corazón.

Pomp & Circumstance

Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2009!

This morning I attended the graduation ceremony for the seniors at Colegio Bolívar and I decided that I like graduation ceremonies. Other major life events and celebrations I can take or leave, pick or choose. But graduation ceremonies, I decided, are something special.

I think I like them because of the hopeful and determined energy of those in the mortarboards and their parents coupled with my own nostalgia. I like listening to the speakers talk of the future, where they as a collective group have come from, and where they are independently going. I like hearing about these coming aspirations, recollections of friendships, and important memories.

I like hearing these things because I picture, not only my own high school graduation ("double O!"), but also where my life has indeed taken me in the past nine years since then. Looking back, I don't recall a lot of the things I'm guessing one is supposed to be able to remember about graduating from high school.

The few things I can recall about my own ceremony was that I was at the end of my row and my name was written on a large piece of paper in the staging area to let everyone in my row know this is where they needed to be, lest I not show up to indicate it with my presence. I remember one of my best friends, Annie Taff, gave one of the commencement speeches. I remember thinking it was good and being proud of her, but most of all I remember she ended it with her trademark "have fun, kids" line. I also remember being terrified of tripping on my robe in front of the 500 people I was graduating with as I descended the stairs. Fortunately, I also remembered how to walk. There are other tiny things too but those are the main memories, the lasting ones.

One of my other best friends from high school, Laura Hammer, had made her own memory book with all of our senior pictures in it and a survey next to each one. Over the course of the summer following graduation she made us answer the survey, which consisted of future predictions and various favorite this or thats. I only remember that I had said that I wanted to become a teacher and work in either an inner-city school or abroad. (Part of me wants to see that book again now to see what else my optimistic 18 year old self thought to document.)

At 18 I am not sure what I thought, or if I even cared, what being 27 meant. I probably thought it wasn't young but I don't think I thought it was old either. I know I didn't see myself as being married yet and definitely without children. But I do remember being ambitious and wanting to get out, spread out, and find out...about everything. I still feel that way.

I saw that today in the eyes of the graduates and heard it in the words of the speakers. The valedictorian, a guy I got to know through the musical this year, is going to London for school next fall. I went 90 minutes into Wisconsin. But dreams are dreams and I think it's good to be reminded of them. It's good to be reminded of how you felt when you wanted them.

This year is also special for me personally because the freshmen that I started my fledgling teaching career off with back in the fall of 2005 at Washington Junior High in Manitowoc, Wisconsin are also graduating. Four years goes by quickly! I still remember standing in front of my first hour class on the first day of school holding the syllabus in my hands and all 27 of them silently staring back at me, questioning my very existence. I can actually still picture where some of them sat and, if you gave me a list, I could probably put each and every one of them in their respective periods.

I have a special place in my heart for everyone I had that first year; they taught me more about how to be a teacher than I have learned in any one year since then. Some of them have stayed in contact with me since I left for Colombia through random emails and I love knowing what they are doing. I was definitely thinking about all of them today as well, thousands of miles away and almost a week early.

It is my hope that these graduates, both in Cali and Manitowoc, and everywhere else this spring, remember years from now not the words that were said, but the feeling that was created from those words. I think the real reason I like graduations is because, despite the excitement of graduating - the speeches, the college acceptance letters, the tears, and the tossing of the hats - it is what you do afterward, consistently, that leads to the circumstance. I'm now far enough away from the pomp to see that.

¡Felicitaciones a todos del año 2009!