6:45 | Wake up
The morning starts with a loud 6:45 wakeup- everyone’s alarms go off at the same time, and are immediately snoozed. That leads to the second wakeup at 6:55. We all throw on hoodies and rush to the bathroom to get ready for morning gather.
7:10 | Morning Gather
At 7:10 on school days everyone gathers at the Adirondack chairs and the LOD (leader of the day) reads a quote to start the day before breakfast.
7:15 | Breakfast!
After morning gather, everyone funnels into the Wallace for breakfast. We load up on pancakes, eggs, and oatmeal (or whatever is being served) along with the best coffee and tea. We sit down and enjoy our food together.
7:45 | Morning meeting
After breakfast we all head over to campfire circle to have a morning meeting, where we practice mindfulness, get some news, listen to the LOD tell a story, then get some updates about the day.
8:00 | Free time/dishcrew
Before classes start, six students will have dishcrew, which is the most fun part of the morning. When we finish, we have 30 minutes to get ready for the day or finish homework from the night before.
8:30 | Pre-Calc
First class of the day for me is pre-calc, which is super fun and taught in a way where we can apply it to real life situations or learn by experiencing it and being immersed. This class is mostly outside at campfire circle but sometimes we will go to the basketball courts or on walks as part of learning.
9:50 | World Religions in the Wilderness
Second class of the day is World Religions in the Wilderness, which is my favorite class here at Maine Coast Semester. In World Religions we learn about not only all of the major religions of the world, but look at how they work into each other and the natural world around them.
11:00 | Free time
After morning classes, our schedule varies: sometimes we have chores, and sometimes we have free time. Usually in my free time I play spikeball, take a nap, or get ahead on some homework.
12:00 | Lunch
Lunch at MCS is super cool because all staff and students eat together. Teachers, students, outdoor educators, facilities, and administrators all sit down and share a meal family style. This is one of the best parts and you get to know so many cool people.
1:15 | Field lab
After lunch on either Tuesdays or Thursdays students have a field lab, which is an amazing opportunity to explore the surrounding area of Chewonki, and get lab experience outside of Chewonki Neck. During the field lab you go to an off campus site and get to observe the ecosystems, collect data and relate that back to what you’re learning in class or even just general knowledge about Maine’s many ecosystems. Field lab is also cool because you visit almost all of the different ecosystems Maine has to offer.
6:00 | Dinner
Dinner is also delicious, but it’s usually just students and on duty faculty. It’s very chill, which is nice at the end of a long day.
6:45-7:30 | Free time
After dinner is free time! You can either start study hours early, or go decompress from the day for a bit before study hours start.
7:30 | Study Hours
Study hours is the best time to do your homework because that’s what everyone else is doing too, so you can always find people to work with, which I really like. Or if you don’t have any homework (or are procrastinating) it’s also a great time to call home, shower, or chat with friends.
9:30 | Get ready for bed
After study hours you have 30 minutes before check in to get ready for bed.
10:00 | Check In
Faculty who are on-duty that night will come to make sure everyone is in the cabin and doing well. After they leave, sometimes the cabin will go to bed, but most of the time we stay up talking or reading for a bit, or have an occasional game night.
Lily Scott, Santa Fe Preparatory School, Santa Fe, NM
