It has barely been a week since I spent my last day in Raleigh. Life has resumed normally as I assumed it would but Raleigh had become my home too. I miss my hotel crew and nightly explorations for new restaurants in downtown Raleigh and our morning breakfasts together in the Sky Bar. I miss my team and our afternoon coffee work sessions on the fourth floor of the museum. 3:00-5:00 was when our silly came out and we shared some wonderful laughs together while being extremely productive.
With all that I miss, I am glad to be home. I am back with my baby girl, Delilah. We fell right back into our normal routine and it feels good. The picture below is Delilah last Halloween. I just love that smiling face <3
I have had several interesting moments during my internship in Raleigh. There are so many things I did that I never thought I would. At the top of that list is sitting in a professional television studio and answering questions on camera. I have no problem talking in front of groups as long as there are no cameras and microphones. Give me one or both, stage fright sets in. I managed to get through the filming with minimal breakdowns (and by minimal I mean none!) which surprised me and made me feel accomplished.
I had the same feeling while on stage for the Daily Planet Talk. Mics and cameras were involved. I felt like my heart was going to push between my trachea and esophagus and fight for an escape out of my mouth! I know I was shaking and sweating profusely but I think I pulled it off well enough as to not distract from the heart of our speech. I was very proud of Team Ant and I think we did a fantastic job! Again, I love my teammates! This moment was very empowering.
Working with Dr. Beasley and Dr. Sorger was amazing! I learned so much from them and it has been a while since I have been excited to again be a student. Teachers have such a passion for learning and this experience allowed us to again be in a learning environment where we were the students. I like to think that I know a little about a lot but working with ants, this was definitely an area that I knew nothing about and I just absorbed as much as I could like the dry sponge I had become. There were so many scientific terms I was trying to learn that I quickly became overwhelmed. It has been so long that I have had to struggle to succeed, it was a nice reminder of the challenges my students face day to day. Dr. Sorger was wonderful in that she did not let me accept defeat and forced me to not only use the terms but use them correctly. This is the same thing I do for my students and it made me appreciate her so much more. I found myself wanting to have her acceptance and praise in my success and I know my teammates felt the same way. She didn’t give out praise freely, we earned it, and it felt good!
Dr. Beasley was fantastic because she really made me feel like an expert as a teacher. She consulted us on classroom methods and how things work in public school. She truly wanted our input and truly seemed in awe of us as teachers and what we do in our classroom just as we were in awe of our mentors for the work they do. Dr. Beasley is a kind soul and is about to embark on a new journey herself as she heads to Tennessee to teach collegiate biology. I am excited for her and blessed to have been able to work with her this summer.
The only thing to take away is that Team Ant was truly the best team I could have been on. Something special was at work in the universe to have our paths align to work together. This was a summer I will never forget and I am excited to continue my work this coming school year.
Wow, it sounds like you had an incredible time. I really like your connection to the vocabulary your mentor used and how she would not let you get defeated. It sure can be powerful when you have someone (Teacher) not giving up on you.
I felt the same way….taking on the student role and struggling for the first time in a long time! It made me think about my students’ experience in a whole new way, and I think it will change how I interact with them this year.
Reading this was an excellent way to relive my summer. I miss it so much! Totally agree about everything you said, especially about working for praise from the Ant Queen.
Awww! I miss our hotel crew too! Seeing your spirit ant reminds me that I need to add my spirit dinosaur to my blog. LOL