Bye Bye Kalamazoo

Oh my gosh...you should see my apartment right now. From the front door to my bedroom door there are just boxes of all my stuff. There are trashbags with all the junk I decided I don't need. It's crazy.

For the first time ever, I am sad about leaving Western. Perhaps it's because I know I don't have the comfort of living with people I know, or that I had my own "things" here, ya know? Studying at the Crows Nest instead of the library..that was my thing. Taking the long way to campus just to see the Delta Gamma house..that was my thing. Sitting on my favorite bench on campus...visiting my favorite spot in Kalamazoo...totally my things. As much as I struggled here, I had a sense of self. It was a little distorted, but it was me. I learned my biggest life lessons here. I learned that even when I am drowning in fear, I can gasp for own last breath of hope.

I had some of the best times of my life here. Made some of the best friends. I can only hope that as I continue to grow, I can cherish the times that made me smile, rather than the times where I was hiding.

Today I had my meeting with the high school- and I loved it. I absolutley loved it. I walked out of there so happy, I called my mommy talking like 90243 words a second. I had a wonderful meeting with the principal. What she wants me to do is start a peer mediation program, so that I could be a mentor for the kids who take out their issues on the other kids. I am so excited about this because it's something I think I'm really good at- I did it for the Girl Scouts and loved it. I have so many great activities for young girls espcially, a lot of activities on building self esteem and friendship. Boys are a little tougher but I will be working with the dean who is so super nice and I think we'll make an excellent team. I met all the administrative people, everyone was SO NICE, gave me their business card and told me to e-mail or call if I had any comments, questions, or concerns. In addition to the peer mediation I will also be helping in the mornings, for the kids who come early because they don't get fed at home, I will also get to help with the school newspaper and yearbook because she loved my passion for writing...AND I will get to help coach volleyball! You have no idea how much I miss volleyball.

A little bit about the school: It's small, they only have freshmen and sophomores, about 70 kids in each grade. The school itself is very small, with limited resources. Most of the kids come from very low-income families, and are there because they want an affordable college prep, Catholic education that is safe. This high school offers all of that. Each kid is put into a group, either Red, Yellow, Blue, or Green. One day out of the week, one group goes out into the community to work at an organization- they work at the same place every week, they get matched during the first week of the school year and undergo training. They are matched basesd on their interests and cababilities. Kids are working at law firms, hospitals, colleges, etc. Basically, they have entry level jobs but are 14 and 15 years old. The principal explained that this gives them so much confidence and motivation.

Every single person I met, whether it was a staff member, student, or janitor, was so nice, which made me feel welcomed and excited. In fact, the director of admissions is the mother of one of my favorite classmates from Mercy. She was like "do you know Kelly Ford?" and I almost jumped out of my chair. I. LOVE. KELLY. FORD. She is the sweetest, and so is her mommy. I could tell :)

So yes I am super excited and now slowly checking things off my things to do before I leave list. It's quite long.

Tomorrow I will leave this apartment for the last time and I'm not sure when I will be back in Kalamazoo. Peace out...thanks for the memories.