Bridges Shoutout

Now that we've come to the end of the road...

Still, I can't let go.

More than a full week after the official end of Bridges 2009, I still find myself wondering why Bree is not next door, why I'm not eating my meals in the dining hall, why I have a sudden affinity for high school kids...

[I apologize for the delay in this entry - please see my previous blog for an explanation. Hopefully, I will be getting a new computer soon.]

The last week of Bridges was fantastic. We finished up class, cried, wrote notes to each other, went to Atlanta all day, had a banquet, cried, presented what we'd learned over the past four weeks, participated in a talent show, packed, had crazy hall parties, gave out paper plate awards in the parlors, and cried.

I wish that I could better encapsulate the high level of emotion and busy-ness that I felt during the final days of the program. Because I am not so eloquent and I have a pronounced lack of pictures for the time being, know this:

The four weeks that I spent with the Bridges students (and even the week with counselors beforehand) were some of the best weeks of my life. Bridges to a Brighter Future 2009 was absolutely phenomenal, difficult, and amazing. I love dearly every single person involved in the program, and Bridges will always hold a special place in my heart! Now that it is over...

GO FORTH AND DO GREAT THINGS!

A fun-filled, festive holiday weekend

This might just be the best July 4th holiday weekend that I've had in recent memory.

We started the weekend with Friday evening's Jazz Café: lots of black, snaps rather than claps, Olive Garden catering, a student poetry slam, and the highlight of the evening, the Bridges 2009 dance.Everything went wonderfully and surprisingly well that night, all the way until the end of the dance, at which point everyone broke down to Vitamin C's "Graduation Song" and then lapsed into sad, angsty karaoke...and even that was, overall, a good time! The food was fabulous, and I very much enjoyed listening to the original poems. Everybody looked great for the evening - especially the counselors. ;) I must say that dancing from a chaperone point of view consisted of much more busting into crowds and dancing while walking than ever being in a circle, with a partner, or just taking a break from the heels, but I still manged to have a great time with those students and even the other counselors. It was upon our return from the evening when I discovered the infamous prank (see previous entry.)

Saturday, Independence Day, was a real treat. It is a Bridges tradition to travel to Clemson's Youth Learning Institute grounds at Pinnacle Falls, North Carolina to celebrate the Fourth of July, and this year was no different. After getting to sleep in for a couple of extra hours after all of the activity the night before, we headed off in the vans. The weather for the day was perfect - it wasn't too hot or humid, but it stayed sunny. Once we all arrived at the grounds, after many singalongs and naps, we had many options: playing football, soccer, volleyball, or badminton; body art and facepaint; slip 'n' slide; crafts; hiking; swimming in the pond; and just hanging out. I started out with the slip 'n' slide, moved to the pond to clean off, and then took a hike to a beautiful waterfall (the namesake of the site) before the grill masters were ready for dinner around 5:00.

After a delicious grilled dinner and a bit more playing around in the last few moments of light, we attempted to gather everyone for the "kickball final," a.k.a. the biggest water fight in recent history. I'm just going to go out on a limb and call a victory for the counselors, but I'm biased. Once we finally calmed down, ice cream was served, and then we lit sparklers and sang patriotic songs to close out the evening. There was some great girl talk on our van ride home.

We returned around 10:30 yesterday evening for an 11:00 In Rooms call - just enough time for one of my girls to do my make-up: a "runway look," she called it; I was instructed to never wear it out. So, with my overdone blue eye make-up, bathing suit top, and smelly body due to lack of time for a shower, what did I do an hour or so later? Yes, that's right: I went out to get fireworks.

John, Alyssa, Shira, Phil, and I left (after making sure that enough counselors were on the halls, of course) to go to the ATM and actually buy the fireworks, for which we ended up bargaining. We came back, picked up Desmond, and then went to a parking lot to light them. Keep in mind that this was my first time EVER setting off, rather than watching, fireworks...probably because it's illegal in West Virginia. I remember going to my uncle's house when I was younger and watching him set them off in his backyard...I digress. Anyway, I lit my first fireworks last night, and it was great fun.

The adventure did not stop there: the six of us then decided to watch a movie, as the opportunity presented itself when we viewed the rental selection in John's car. First, we needed showers, though, and as we trickled into my room slowly, we copied the idea of some students and played hide and seek in my room and the bathroom, eventually waking Bree. Henceforth, the seven of us started the movie in the middle of the night, fell asleep, and left a few hours later, getting a meager amount of sleep for a long Sunday.

The prankiest of all pranks

Let me preface this post with a story about last night: after verbally warning two of the girls in my hall group against pushing sweatpants against the bottom of the door to block the light and thus attempt to evade the Lights Out call, they clearly disobeyed me by throwing them down and letting just enough gray, cotton fabric peek out. I grabbed Bree, and we pulled the sweatpants out from under the door on our side. Their lights went out.

So, when I returned to my room this evening after a long day in heels, longing only to put on comfortable flip-flops, I found not only said flops to be missing but also my ENTIRE BED, save the frame; my computer, printer, TV, DVD player, phones, jewelry, chairs, etc. This occurred after Lights Out, but, for some reason, lots of counselors, a few straggling students, and even Mrs. Swartz, whom I have never seen anywhere in the dorms other than for a meeting, were on the hall, yet this didn't seem to be an issue. I turned around, walked out of my doorway, and simply asked,

"Where's my stuff?"

I was met with faux confusion - I immediately knew, even before asking, that everyone else knew something that I didn't. I was sure that there had not been a robbery, as there were no signs of tampering, Bree's stuff was still in the next room, and my ENTIRE BED was gone. It was too random an assortment of things to have been stolen.

While all of the counselors played dumb, students who were supposed to be sleeping wandered out of their rooms. Casey tried to play serious and "called FUPO," who instructed her to "ask the students." My things were found in the empty room on the hall; it was at this time that I finally broke Casey and saved a couple of innocent, unknowing girls from loss of privileges. Everything then came to light: this had all been revenge for the sweatpants. Mrs. Swartz reminded me, "They wouldn't prank you unless they really love you."

Later, I literally collapsed on the floor laughing when I returned to my room and saw the sweatpants right where I had left them last night.

Week 3

As Week 3 of Bridges to a Brighter Future comes to a close, I am forced to realize that our time together is nearly through. It's hard to believe that so much has happened in just 21 days...

This week began the karaoke competition which, in my humble opinion, was rigged. Bree and I watched "He's Just Not that into You" on Monday, which was fabulous. Also, performance poet Glenis Redmond (see blog title link) came to teach the students poetry for a few days. Her visit included a spectacular performance of her own at Tuesday's morning assembly and culminated with an impressive student poetry presentation before Tuesday evening's Life Skills workshop sessions.

Wednesday was field trip day: the Nus went to Sliding Rock in Pisgah National Forest, the Mus and Lambdas traveled to Charleston to see College of Charleston and Charleston School of Law, and I took the day off to sleep in and run some errands. Wednesday evening, I taught dance by myself to the Nus, which turned out better than I'd expected.

Speaking of dance - the talent show is coming up! Tuesday evening, our dance class along with other classes and individuals will perform. I'm so excited to watch them! I'll be sure to post about it.

Yesterday was a typical class day, as was today, until this evening. After students' electives, we kicked off the busiest weekend of Bridges - watch for me to recap it all Sunday night.

Internationality

Last night was International Food Night, when all of the students bring a traditional dish upon their return - Mm, mm, good!

Today was International Day, during which everyone wore a shirt representing their home or favorite country - a jersey, national colors, souvenir, etc.

All in all, it's been a fun couple of days - a grand return, and an exciting start to the second half of Bridges to a Brighter Future!

Funny/not funny

To summarize the counselor's weekend off, and because I missed OMC this past week, I've put together a funny/not funny, rated PG:

Funny: having a hard time ordering food that was vegetarian
Not funny: having a hard time ordering food that wouldn't make us sick

Funny: making a question ball
Not funny: not being able to think of a favorite book

Funny: unearthing my DVD collection
Not funny: having to repack my storage boxes

Funny: watching my All-State Chorus concert on DVD
Not funny: Casey falling asleep during said watching


Funny: playing laser tag, girls vs. boys
Not funny: losing in laser tag, 40,000 to 100,000










Funny: washing and drying all of my clothes together
Not funny: staining my girls' load of whites blue
Disclaimer: we fixed it.

Funny: getting Thaicoon for dinner at 4:00 p.m.
Not funny: forgetting to eat all day until then

Funny: going to Frankie's Fun Park
Not funny: getting carded on the way into Frankie's Fun Park

Funny: going on the bumper boats
Not funny: getting soaked on the bumper boats


Funny: "Transformers 2" being sold out
Not funny: inadvertently exposing a student to hundreds of uses of curse words

Funny: sleeping until it was time to leave for the movie
Not funny: Phil sleeping during the climax of the movie

Funny: telling them it's Casey's birthday at Johnny Rocket's
Not funny: freezing in Johnny Rockets due to the combination of air conditioning and dripping wet clothes


Funny: watching Milk with a diverse group on the Ant Hall
Not funny: struggles for gay rights that have never been reported in history books

Funny: sleeping until 3:15 on the day when students return
Not funny: being called out on it at counselor meeting at 3:30

A Day in the Life

A typical day in the life of a Bridges counselor (MTThF) - well, at least, for me:

7:10 Rise*
7:15 Knock on doors to wake students; take shower and get ready
7:50 Line up on hall and go down to meet other halls to go to breakfast
8:50 Morning Assembly
9:30 Return to dorm - SLEEP**
11:00 (sometimes as early as 10:00) Counselor meeting
12:30 Lunch*
1:30 Check mail and e-mail, nap, work out, see friends, clean, run errands, do counselor-ly things such as organize hall meetings or the hall kitchen or meet with other counselors or something of that nature**
5:00 Dinner
6:00 Workshop (T) OR Hall time (MTh) OR special activity (F)
7:00 Evening Activities (MWTh) - physical activities such as soccer, tennis, swimming, step, fitness center, etc.
9:30 Return to halls - laundry, hall meetings, entertain students
11:00 Students must be in rooms
11:30 Lights out
LATER - after everyone's asleep and miscellaneous tasks are completed - go to bed!

*Each counselor attends dinner plus one other dining hall meal per day; a counselor may switch meals with another counselor, usually done either on a daily or weekly basis, so that Counselor X is not stuck with the same meal duty (either breakfast or lunch) everyday.
**The free time that we do get as counselors is the time during which students are in class.


What do we do on Wednesdays and weekends? you ask. That is a great question:

Wednesdays are field trip days at Bridges. The older two classes do one or more college visits, while the youngest class participates in an educational trip around Greenville; for instance, last week, I went with the Nus on their downtown scavenger hunt, Upcountry History Museum visit, and Flour Field tour; yesterday, I visited USC and Columbia College with the Olders. Wednesday evenings consist of dinner and Evening Activities.

Weekends are special. This coming weekend is the counselors' weekend off and the weekend during which students go home. Last weekend was jam-packed with a bowling trip, a pool party, visitation hours, a kickball tournament, and a ropes course for the Nus and community service for the Olders.


Do you have questions about my schedule - or about anything else at Bridges? Feel free to leave them in a comment or to shoot me an e-mail.

Progress report

This weekend will mark the halfway point of the Bridges to a Brighter Future 2009 summer program. Oh, how time has flown!

To commemorate this bittersweet moment, I will blog about a couple of the most brilliant things that I have heard students comment about over these past couple of weeks (in my words):

1. Everything happens for a reason. Therefore, if you give up on something or duck out early, you will never know that reason. That not knowing can be the hardest part, so try your best, go hard, and finish what you started. It will all make sense and be worth something in the end.

2. We all come from different backgrounds - economically, socially, geographically, culturally, etc. Our upbringing forms the basis for our opinions. Thus, peoples' differences are not their own faults or even necessarily a bad thing - conflicting opinions are simply the result of growing up. We cannot judge people based on things that they cannot control. Rather, we need to listen and try to understand so that we can stand united; acceptance rules over dismissal or scorn.

And, on that note, sometimes, life is just hard, and we absolutely cannot change that. What we can change is our attitude and how we deal with events that are handed to us or obstacles that come our way.

"If you could take just one foot and put it in my Converse..."

Tonight's conclusion of the Nu class's NCBI workshop was one of the most moving evenings I have ever experienced. Though I tried my best to stay strong and somewhat detached emotionally so that I could be there for the students, I could not help but be affected by the genuine, painful stories shared by students and counselors alike. I am riding a thin line between being open, real, and available and being the staunch, professional counselor. I am slowly (but surely!) learning to balance this as well as the tough love approach.

I also am finally beginning to feel valid and useful and worthy of being a counselor, in particular because of two recent thank-yous from some students and also because of some affirmations and a mid-program conference. That's not to say that there is no room for improvement; rather, I am more motivated now to be the best that I can. I look so forward to the remainder of this program and will only complain about its tendency to fly by.

These dreams go on when I close my eyes

I've had two memorable, awesome dreams in the last week:

1. Friday night, I dreamed that I met Ben Cohen (left) of Ben and Jerry. He was giving a talk in a theater setting similar to Burgiss but smaller and more intimate - he talked of being "granola," rugged, and living in Vermont. It was GREAT.

2. Last night, I had a dream about my co-counselors Phil, John Odell, and Desmond being in a band together. I'm not sure, but I think that Desmond was the rapper and John was the guitarist. I know that Phil was the drummer - however, rather than the traditional kit, he played on the hood of a black car. Initially, I believed that he played on the actual car, but no - he carried the hood around. He would. Anyway, these guys were legit - they were on MySpace and everything! They even played a gig for Bridges.

Bridges featured on PBS

Mrs. Tobi Swartz, the director of Bridges to a Brighter Future, a.k.a. my boss, was conspicuously absent from Tuesday's activities. Why? you might ask: well, let me assure you: she had a wonderful excuse. She flew out Tuesday after morning assembly to go to Washington, D. C. to be featured on a PBS program entitled "Education News Parents Can Use." But not only was she on national TV, she was promoting Bridges!

Bridges was one of three academic enrichment programs featured on the evening's hour-long broadcast, "Summer Learning Programs: Preventing the Slide, Promoting Achievement." To see the full video, check out this link. Mrs. Swartz's interview runs from about 24:27-36:24. To see the FUnet article, click the post title.

Here they come!

Check-in last Saturday morning was crazy and quick and frenzied and tiring and great. The process was actually divided: the senior Lambdas and their apprentices, the Mus, checked in first, during which time I carried bags. They had already been here once (Mus) or twice (Lambdas), so they didn’t need much help, and almost immediately after moving their things into their new homes for the next month, they left for a leadership retreat at a beautiful camp about an hour away, near the North Carolina line.

After the Lambdas and Mus left, the Nus came in one by one. We had ten new Nu girls on this hall. We combined with Alyssa and Sarafina’s six to have a brief hall meeting before going to meet Justin:

Justin Boudreau was hired by Bridges to facilitate two and one-half days of icebreakers, team-building, and leadership exercises. I was a bit skeptical before he arrived, but almost as soon as he got here, I appreciated him. Not only did we not have to plan anything for the weekend, but us counselors got to participate in almost three days of fun. I thought that Justin had a calming yet excitable personality; he did a great job of transitioning and keeping a good mix of light and heavy stuff. He switched well between active games and thought-provoking exercises and kept the students engaged by being goofy but not too out-of-touch.

I really enjoyed getting to know the Nus and learn all of the Bridges customs with other newbies. I especially liked John’s and my group of Nus, the Cuckoos! Saturday and Sunday, it was just us Nus and the counselors who had not gone on the leadership retreat; Sunday evening, the upper classes returned and had did some mentee activities including dinner and commercials. After Mrs. Swartz’s presentation of rules and expectations for Bridges students, we all retired to our first complete hall meeting and bed.

Monday was another time about which I had been skeptical: EVERYONE, and I mean everyone - all three classes, teachers, counselors, staff - would be with Justin for the day. I knew that he had done a great job with these Nus with whom he had begun to build a relationship, but I wasn’t so sure about his ability to handle all of Bridges. However, everything turned out just fine, and after dinner, parlor time to replace the rained-out scavenger hunt (during which I played Twister, passed a volleyball, chatted, and learned not one but FOUR Spanish dances: the cambia, bachata, samba, and salsa), and another big hall meeting, we were ready for classes on Tuesday.

Bridges to a Brighter Summer

What a whirlwind of a week! This time seven days ago, I had just gotten home after watching the Pens in game five at a party at Billy's house. I had told everyone goodbye and was in my room focused on packing as quickly as possible so that I could get to sleep.

It's hard to believe that, now, one week later, I am sitting in a dorm room back at school, feeling completely good emotions. This week has been exhausting and overwhelming at times and has definitely moved me out of my comfort zone, but even just today has made all of the hard work and training so worth it.

When I got here on Sunday, I was unsure of myself and just tired of driving - after I moved in, I was pretty much beat. I didn't know more than a few people, and I was anxious to see how the week would play out. After a few hellos and a small gathering in my room, we realized that we needed to be ready to leave before 5 a.m. and that we should probably get some sleep, so we parted ways until the next morning (or, if you prefer, later that night.)

The kayaking trip definitely had its ups and downs - perhaps at the time, I felt that it was a lot of downs, but now, looking back, I can see that it was an overall positive experience. We were exhausted and eaten alive by bugs on the beach, but we got to know each other and built our team. We also saw some beautiful scenes and gained some wilderness experience and confidence. I had never been kayaking before.

The rest of training consisted of a variety of people hired to do workshops for us on everything from conflict resolution to coaching to CPR training. Some sessions were more helpful than others, but, for better or for worse, we were generally in training from eight or nine until five.

After our training during the day, we did lots of counselor bonding activities: everything from going out to eat to bowling [see above picture and below video] to just hanging out.
Jeff and I watched the Pens in games six and then the victorious game seven, shaking the building, I'm sure, at the final second with our jubilous (Yes, I am making it a word.) cheers. That Friday night just happened to be the day that the six senior members of the Leadership Team moved in and the final night before the rest of the students came - read: hall decorating frenzy.

We got started on our hall decorations after picking an overall theme on Thursday: TV channels. After divvying up the individual channels (200G-GSN; 200B-ESPN; 300-Discovery; 400-MTV), I was asked to switch rooms with a few other counselors before the students got here, so I was moved from the Game Show Network to MTV just before going to shop at Wilson's, a store with such a combination of useless nonsense and genious contraptions that is an overpriced, convenient time-killer. We decided to focus on making all of the big wall spaces (about ten or so since I had more than doubled the size of my hall) different MTV show themes, such as Road Rules, Spring Break, and My Super Sweet Sixteen. We spent a few hours on Thursday planning things out and cutting out giant decorations out of brightly-colored paper, but we didn't get anything finished or posted, so we had nothing to show for ourselves when we went to bed due to sleepiness Thursday night. Friday, though, we got out of training early after a final run-through at lunch at William's, and we got right on our glamming up the drab dorm space. By the time the LT arrived (early, of course), we had shown significant process but were still struggling to fill up the smaller spaces. When all was said and done, the two LT girls on our hall had helped us to create a montage of instruments, music notes, money, Road Rules, The Real World, an iPod, My Super Sweet Sixteen, a television, and the trademark MVT astronaut. We went to bed anxiously awaiting the arrival of 67 campers bright and early the next morning. See the next blog for more...