Above: Who wants to skip school tomorrow and ride to Argentina with me?
I spent the last three school days visiting schools in northern New Jersey and talking to students about my trip. The visits went off without a hitch. Each class I spoke to was supportive, inquisitive, and hospitable. One school was an elementary school and the other was a high school.
I was a bit nervous before visiting both schools because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to humanize long-term travel and show the students that one need not be crazy to set off on a big adventure.
Judging by the raised eyebrows I saw in each class and the number of student questions I heard weighted with both doubt and intrigue, questions prefaced with commands like, “Wait, hold on, hold on…”, I don’t know how successful I was in bringing the trip down to Earth.
Overall though, the visits went better than I thought they would. I was able to keep my energy up during a marathon six-classes-in-a-row teaching stint today at the high school, and I was able to keep the attention of the elementary school students longer than I thought I’d be able to.
I’m excited because I feel like each class will be more likely to show interest in trip-related projects planned for the coming year now that I have visited the students in-person.
If I spoke to you in the past few days, thank you! I had an awesome time!
Above: Me explaining why the tent is so cool
Some of the more interesting/unique questions posed to me throughout the past three days:
1. You’re gonna bring a gun, right?
2. What about elephants when you camp in Africa?
3. What will you do if someone just comes up to you when you’re riding and knocks you off your bike and takes it? Bam! [student punches his open palm for effect] Just like that!
4. If your tent only holds one person, what will you do if you find an abandoned baby on a cold night? Will you just leave it outside?
5. Do your parents think your crazy? They must think you’re crazy.
6. I know you said why you’re doing all of this, but really–why are you doing all of this?
Posted in School visits
