Day Made Thanks to a Student

I was looking at the news feed on my Facebook page this afternoon to find an interesting photo of one of my students from this past year. It said hanging with WorldTeach at Gatavai. I commented asking how she had met the new volunteers already. She replied she ran into them by the WWII guns in Gatavai. I know the trail, as I had done that one at least five times. "Did you go hiking by yourself?," I asked. She had taken a friend with her. "Yay! That's my student," I replied. She told me she was telling the new volunteers about how I was the reason she loved hiking, I was her favorite WorldTeacher (haha), and told them about the place she had gone with me on a Saturday field trip.

Here is the photo of my student Annastasia with the 2013-2014 WorldTeach American Samoa volunteers.

This is a photo of Annastasia and me we had taken the last week of school.

Here is Annastasia in Larsen's Bay from the rainy Saturday field trip. 

Seeing this photo and her comments on Facebook really made my day! One of my main goals for the year was to encourage a greater appreciation for our surroundings. If you followed my American Samoa blog, I'm sure you noticed how well my field trips went over at the end of the year, and I was so excited about my students realizing what great beauty and resources their island of a home had to offer.

This is the view of flower pot island from the WWII gun site on the Blunt's Point Trail that Annastasia ventured on with her friend this week.

This got me thinking about the awesome landscapes I had the privelege of seeing, hiking, enjoying, and living in this past year. This is the view of Matafoa from the peak of Mt. Alava.

I am constantly in awe of my surroundings, which encouraged my love of science and curiosity. I love taking the opportunity to just go on a walk in nature, in an area where cars are not zooming down the streets. I find a constant peace in nature. Just today on an afternoon bike ride, I found myself smiling and thinking about how nice it was to be pedaling through some trees, meadows and fields around a beautiful lake.

Speaking with Annastasia today put a giant smile on my face. Some students really did pick up on this appreciation I have for nature and developed it themselves. So cool to see that, a few months after I left the island.

I have also had some communication this past week from one of my students who is currently taking a speech class at Remington College in Hawaii. He was really excited about heading to school, and I'm excited to see how things go for him. He did admit that he misses his friends back in American Samoa and his teachers (including me), but I told him he can make more friends. Good to hear from him. It's a cool thing having the Internet like we do and being able to stay in touch with people on different sides of the world. A little food for thought today. :-)