This spring break I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Rwanda, a tiny country in east Africa with a devastating history of genocide that belies its peaceful rolling hills and gentle people. I traveled with a group of women who helped start a girls’ school in one of the areas most hard hit by […]
Okay, I admit it. I’m becoming a little self conscious about the fact that the great majority of my posts reference my homeland on the east coast, and my growing affection for life in the west. So really, this won’t be another. But I have to say, as I endure yet another Ojai winter (cue […]
Being a sophomore is great. Seriously, it’s the best. The excitement of being new hasn’t worn off yet, but I know where everything (well, most things) is and I’m nearly fluent in Thacher-speak. When someone tells me they came back from their EDT early to take the ACT before heading off to rehearsal at the […]
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” is commonly advised to campers before heading out on Extra Day Trips. Though I have often taken this to mean, “Don’t forget your rainfly and bring enough sunscreen to share with everyone who forgets,” my adventures through the Southern Sierra last week demonstrated that this phrase should be applied […]
The first time someone suggested I get a headlamp I laughed in her face. Seeing how I don’t spend my days mining for coal or performing surgery, it seemed like a pretty silly idea. And worse, I would look ridiculous in one. That counted for something. Okay, that counted for a lot! But somewhere between […]
When the idea of teaching my own English class was posed to me last spring, I was excited for the challenge. Yet when fall came, and eleven new Toads met me in Room C, their wide eyes and curious faces were less endearing than I had anticipated. What if I say the wrong thing? What […]
Kids need three things: to be known, to be loved, and to be held to a high standard. This is the message Mr. Mulligan often shares with families visiting Thacher for the first (or second, or third) time. His wisdom is offered as an example of how our school understands teenagers and what they need […]
They say that sense is a powerful tool in evoking memory – you smell your grandmother’s perfume and are immediately transported back to age 8. You taste a fresh strawberry and think of summer. As someone new to Ojai, and somewhat prone to melodrama, I’ve been thinking recently about the sights, sounds and smells that […]
“Putting on a musical has gotta be the most fulfilling thing a person could ever hope to do.” A line from Detective Cioffi, the leading character in this year’s winter musical, Curtains, which debuted last weekend in the Milligan Center of the Performing Arts. Perhaps if you read my previous post, you may have gathered […]
I arrived home late last night, began to pull the miscellaneous colored threads off my jeans and proceeded along with my nighttime routine, knowing sleep itself was a long way off. Next to my reflection in the mirror, a sticky note glared back at me, “Write!” Just over a month has gone by and I […]