2/26/2011 Chewonki continues to amaze me every day.  I’m sitting here in the dining hall, listening to Baylor and Alex play guitar, drinking hot chocolate, talking with friends, and watching the snowball fight outside.  It’s snowing again! We’re supposed to get another foot today, on top of the two feet already on the ground. I love it when it snows.  We make snowmen, explore campus, push each other in the snow, go cross country skiing or snowshoeing, and the next day we still see the remnants Read More

Whenever I talk to friends or family at home about my Chewonki experience, many do not understand. The Chewonki Semester School experience is something too difficult to put into words, and I don’t think it should have to be. Chewonki is a place of true happiness for me, it’s a second home. I wish I didn’t have to use this cliché, but it’s true. I love Chewonki. Maybe it’s because even when waking up 30 minutes earlier than usual for farm chores, my cabin mates and I can still wear a Read More

Sundays at Chewonki are great. The day starts late which means that people get to sleep in and recover from the long week and the usually high-energy Saturday night activity. At 9:00AM, a few volunteer students report to the kitchen to make brunch. At 10:30, everyone else arrives for a wonderful meal. This past Sunday, we had omelets, seasoned potatoes, candied bacon, and apple popovers. Everything was scrumptious. After brunch, the schedule says "personal time". For some people, this time Read More

One of my favorite parts of the week comes every Wednesday at 4:00 PM when the entire semester school community comes together in the Ellis Room for school meeting.  The delightful science and sustainability fellow Rutherford Poland coordinates our weekly meetings, and at least half of each one is conducted in the style of a Quaker meeting. All of the students and faculty sit in a big Chewonki circle in silence, and when the spirit moves someone to speak, they do. Occasionally, part of the Read More

Today for field trip, we went to Popham beach and talked about the ecosystems of dunes and beaches.  But before we did anything, Peter Sniffen told us all to get down on our stomachs and to watch the ripples in the sand form.  We all got down and watched the wind blow the sand across the beach.  It was fascinating, and it’s not that I didn’t expect it to be fascinating, but I don’t think I realized how wonderful it would actually be.  I thought about just the sand.  I thought about every single Read More

A lot can happen in just one week away from Chewonki.  Upon coming back, I noticed there were a few things out of place on the Neck.  Apparently, roller skating demigod and Natural History teacher Sir Dr. Professor Peter Sniffen had a face under his beard.  I ran inside the Wallace Center after getting off the bus from the airport to hug my friends, but most importantly, to embrace the wonderful, bearded Peter Sniffen.  However, I could not find him.  Instead I found a much younger looking, Read More

The week before spring break we finished up our classes and participated in WFA (Wilderness First Aid) for two days and OC (Outdoor Classroom)  for two days. WFA was a lot of fun. We learned tons in a very short amount of time. The best part was when we did the medical simulations. Eric (our WFA teacher) would give us a story line for our particular character and would put fake blood and bruises on us. One character walked around with a knife and bloody hand, two characters fought loudly with Read More

Coming back from spring break was like coming home.  I walked into my cabin and my cabin mates greeted me by lying on my bed, which is supposedly the most comfortable bed on campus (tied with Peter’s).  They all got up and ran to me as I dropped my bags and we all hugged for a good five minutes.  As people started to come home throughout the day, the energy increased around campus.  There were so many hugs and I will never forget them. Martiza shed many tears because she was so happy that Read More

My vocal cords already felt ripped, and we hadn't even started playing yet. We were thumping our chests and making war cries, swaying back and forth in a huddle shouting, and loving life. I felt like I was ten again, when I was a camper here, and we were inducting the semester into an ancient summer camp tradition. Capture the flag? Not quite, each team has seven flags, and we play harder. The game's called Rocks. You don't know how to play? Sit down, new kids, Niall and I are going to teach Read More

Even though right now happens to be the era of midterms and essays here at Chewonki, the level of excitement just keeps rising. Two days ago, the first two of the expected baby lambs were born. I would be surprised if there was someone here who hadn't gone down to see them yet. Plenty of lambs still have yet to be born. I'm already gearing up to sign up for my second shift of lamb watch, where we get to check the ewes in the middle of the night in case they go into labor. The prospect of seeing Read More