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[freshlydroppedout]

It’s been a minute!

Wow! I think my last entry on this blog was more than a year ago. So so much to catch up on!

Currently, I’m sitting in my favorite cafe in Paonia, CO. I have only 5 more weeks of my Gap Year program left. Crazy! Isn’t it? Blake Boles is going to be visiting this Saturday through Friday! Can’t wait to see him :)

This gap year has been a whirlwind so far. I’ll have to write some separate posts dedicated to them. But for now, yeah, it’s been life changing. 

What’re my future plans now? I was confused what I was gonna do after the gap year while I was in Argentina, and guess what? I still am! I have a few things planned out, but nothing compared to the plans I had 2 years ago. 

So, what am I doing? I’ll be heading home from the gap year May 27th. And starting the following week, I’m gonna start participating in an adult circus program, where we’ll rehearse for 2 months to put on a 3 day show. I’m pretty excited! I’m also looking for a summer job, something I’ve never done before. Just to push myself and get more experience working! At the end of summer, of course I’m going back to NBTSC. I’m going as an older camper, to culminate. It’ll be special for sure.

After the summer, I’m gonna start going to Community College! I’ve already taken my placement tests. Reading and writing were really strong, math however, was weeakkk. I’ve had a math tutor for some time, which definitely helped, but still I’m pretty behind. But it’s okay! I can always learn and get up to speed when I need to be :)

I’m planning on starting slow, maybe only taking 2-3 classes. I know I want to take American Sign Language and Psychology, and then maybe a writing or math class as well. We’ll see. But that’s my plan.

Then, depending on how much I’m enjoying being home and going to college, that’s how I’ll decide how to spend my 2019. Who knows, maybe I’ll hate it, want to move back to Paonia, and build my tiny house. Or maybe i’ll thrive, transfer to the UofA for psychology, and start building a career that way. Anyway, I have lots of options! And it’s kinda fun having no idea where I’m headed. It’s just part of the journey :)

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Books!?

Hey guys! You interested in what I’m reading? What I’m feeding my brain with? Let me tell you!

I have divided my books I want to read in three groups: Brain Books, Classics, and Others.  Brain books are because I’m trying to read up on neurology, Classic books because obviously I want to read the classics! and Others so I get a good balance :) My plan to devour these books is to read in a cycle, Brain books then classics, followed by others. To keep a heallllthy balance of knowledge.

Brain Books TBR

The Compass of Pleasure - David J. Linden

The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson

A Billion Wicked Thoughts - Ogi Ogas, Sai Gaddam

The Brain That Changes Itself - Norman Doidge

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat - Oliver Sacks

The Human Condition -  ?

Classics

A clockwork orange - Anthony Burgess

One hundred years of solitude -Gabriel García Márquez

1984 - George Orwell

The grapes of wrath - John Steinbeck

The bell jar - Slyvia Plath

Lord of the flies - William Golding

Frankenstein - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

11/22/63 - Stephan King

Others

Welcome to the nightvale - Joseph Fink

The book of negros - Lawrence Hill

Ready player one - Ernest Cline

This savage song - Victoria Schwab

Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are? - Frans de Waal

Of orcas and men - David A. Neiwart

Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt

Dark matter - Blake Crouch

pilgrim at tinker creek - Annie Dillard

The hate U give - Angie Thomas

Right now I have planned the first 3 books in my reading challenge. Ready Player One, The Compass of Pleasure, and 1984!

Happy reading <3

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Long Term Goals

As I’m in Argentina, I’ve been thinking a lot about my future. As I have a lot of different interests, I have a few different Life Routes I have designed for myself. I guess I am truly going through the phase, What Am I Doing With My Life(tm), as I will be going through the rest of my life. After I have a long sesh planning my future, I end up just thinking  “STOP PLANNING YOUR LIFE!! EVERYTHING WILL JUST FALL INTO PLACE!!” It’s really quite the dilemma.

Since it stresses me out to plan ONE route and stick to it, here are just some future oriented goals (or just, ideas) I want to accomplish in the next 3-5 years.

Okay. The biggest question for me right now is what am I gonna do after the Gap Year? I have agreed with myself that this trip (September 2017-May 2018) is going to be my LAST trip, program, or unschooling adventure led by Blake, Dev, or Matt! After the gap year ends, I will have spent a big majority of the last 3 years exploring, growing, and learning on these trips. Isn’t that kinda crazy?

2016 - New Zealand, Real World Retreat

2017 - Argentina / Gap Year

2018 - End of the Gap year / Final year at NBTSC

So, what lays ahead of these fantastic programs? What have they taught me? I think a good way to challenge myself, and test what I’ve learned is to plan a long travel trip for myself. Only me! Solamente. But also, this may sound crazy, but what if I stayed in Tucson for a YEAR? It’s unheard of! I think it would be very beneficial to do this. Earn some money, be active in my circus, and find new opportunities where I live. This will be tough since all my friends will have already left for college. Time to put my friend making skills to the test.

As I plan for the future, I do want to acknowledge that I’ve had a very privileged upbringing. I have experienced numerous things that normal kids have not, and I think I am readily equipped with tools that will help me conquer the world, wherever it takes me.  The hard part is, I have a wide variety of things that greatly interest me, and I don’t know what to focus on! Writing, photography, film making, drawing, dance, theater, playing musical instruments are all subjects I feel like I have only scratched the surface of growing up. And yet, I have a strong to connection to each one. And I KNOW if I devote my life to just one of those subjects, I will be excited each and every day to learn more. And on the other hand, I have yet to even START to educate myself about sciences, math, coding, astronomy, ecology and things of that nature; All of which DO interest me to some degree. (ESPECIALLY NEUROLOGY!) I just haven’t started, and don’t exactly know when to.

Okay, with that aside, here’s some things I’d like to see myself achieving/striving for in the coming years.

SOME MUSHY GOALS

Go to Circadium in Philadelphia! - This is a 3-year intensive training program. Not only teaching circus skills, but also technical coursework (rigging, theater tech, equipment-building), business coursework (computer software, financial management, marketing), and opportunities for regular public performances. It’s a new program, just founded in 2016.

Go to college! - Other than taking community college classes, I’m interested in actually attending a small liberal arts college. Such as: Evergreen, Bard in Berlin and Marlboro. But will I actually go? WhooOOOoOOooOoO knows. And WHY do I even want to go? Do I have a career orientated goal that requires a college degree? No! I’m just intrigued!

Build a house! Get chickens! Have a cute lil farm!

Dedicate a quarter, semester or a year for internships in different fields and new experiences.

Pay back all my debts and start saving for my first independent trip/adventure

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Daily Life in Buenos Aires

Daily life is a strange idea. What’s “daily” if everyday is totally different? I guess everyday I wake up, relaxed or in a rush, eat some sort of breakfast, and head out the door. That’s pretty daily for me. Most days I’m at a coffeeshop, usually before Spanish classes or just, every other day. I go to coffeeshops a lot. I think instead of trying to describe a particular day, I’ll just run you through a typical week!

LUNES, MIÉRCOLES, Y VIERNES

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are pretty much the same. After dilly dallying around the apartment, I usually head out around 11 to scout out a café. Today for example, is Wednesday, and I’m at the All Saints Café next to the Belgrano apartment. They make great Dulce De Leche Lattes. Highly recommended. Sometimes I go to Felix Felicis, a vaguely Harry Potter themed café. This is where Blake always goes every morning. 9-12, if you were wondering. I need to be at the Palermo apartment at 2pm for Spanish class, so I will probably leave at 1:30 and take a bus. Later in the evening, I try to make time to Skype my boyfriend. I eat dinner with my apartment, then I watch an episode of The Office (UK), and head off to bed. Pretty easy days.

MARTES Y JUEVES

Ideally, on Martes y Jueves I’d have silks classes in the mornings. I’ve emailed two studios, and I still plan to go. But right now I’m waiting for my sprained ankle to heal :(  Last month I had Tango classes on these days. But this month I’m replacing Tango with Silks. My ankle is just messing with all my plans!! We usually have some unique events held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, like a cooking party, Spanish study group, trip to a symphony, or a milonga. Who knows!

VIERNES (special thing)

ONLY ON FRIDAYS! One apartment hosts a dinner party every week! We invite special guests, eat yummy food, and usually dance together. Either Blues or Tango. It’s a blast.

SABADO

Saturdays are ADVENTURE DAYS! Mary and I have officially dedicated our Saturdays to, you guessed it, adventure. We’ve made a list of places we need to go before the trip ends, and we’re planning on knocking one or two off each week. Some of these places include the Botanical Gardens, La Boca, The Natural History Museum, Etc.

DOMINGO

Sundays are the slowest days. The city feels empty. These are great days to sleep in, hang out in a park, catch up on reading, or other things of that nature. These are also the days we have our weekly group meeting. We usually meet at an apartment. We do check ins, plan our field trips, talk about apartment problems, go over the the events this week, etc. They feel like they go on forever. It never ends. Sometimes there’s ice cream, which is a good good addition.

And that’s a regular week for me! Thanks for reading!

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Bariloche & El Bolsón

They were amazing. Let me tell you about it.

After a 24 hour bus ride, everyone slugged their way to the hostel, 41 Below, brushed their teeth, and relaxed. I needed some Sierra Independent Time, so I explored the city and found a little cafe to journal in. I had finished my book on the bus, so I was on the hunt for a new short read. I started reading The Outsiders that night. So good!!!

The next day a group of us took a long bus ride to Llao Llao. We hiked and hiked and found an amazing view spot. On our way up, guess who came trailing up behind us? The one and only Blake Boles!

“You guys definitely found the best hike in Bariloche,” he said and continued on.

We sat at the top, relishing in the sunlight and staring out at the wonderful view of giant mountains emerging from fresh salt water bodies. It was a dream!

On Sunday morning, Mary, Hero, Tucker and I trekked our way up the mountain to stay at beautiful Refugio Frey. We met a friend on the way up, his name was Gavin. We hiked together most of the way.

We arrived to Frey around 5pm. There were so many travelers and rock climbers. Everyone looked similar. You know the look? Adventure, rugged, rock climber, strong, dreads, a little bit dirty? But also clean, and very intelligent. They were surrounding us!!  I laid by the lake hidden in the mountains, ate cookies, and closed my eyes. Many experienced hikers say the hike up to Frey is easy. But for me and my friends, it was a nice challenge.

We decided to start cooking dinner. We had brought up lentils, dry mashed potatoes, and a few veggies. We began cooking the lentils, but after 40 minutes of trying to cook them, we gave up. So all we had for dinner was 2 bags of mashed potatoes and uncooked carrots. We just ate it out of the pot as two PROFESSIONAL CHEFS cooked their dinner beside us. It was hilarious. I couldn’t even eat I was laughing so hard. Our soggy, salty potatoes and our hard carrots. It was pretty good though.

As the Americans we are, we got comfy in our bed around 9pm! Everyone else was downstairs drinking beer and making lifelong friends. We were TOO intimidated. So Goodnight!(tm), it was.

On Monday morning I was feeling good. I was ready to hike down, catch the bus, catch another bus, and boogie on our way down to El Bolsón. I was unstoppable! The only thing that was uncomfortable were my legs were a little sore from the day before. No biggie, though. I’d push through it.

The first section of the hike is Very Downhill. Lots of big rocks you have to jump down from. Guess what?! I slipped and sprained my ankle! Pretty bad, too. I immediately started trying to wiggle my toes, I was really scared I had broken it. I sat for 3 minutes or so for the pain to go away. Tucker traded me bags, so I wouldn’t have to carry my heavy one. We hiked until we got to a picnic area, and I took off my shoe and discovered the madness.

We wrapped a bandana around it, and continued on our way. None of us really knew what to do. It hurt quite a bit. But I continued hiking because we couldn’t miss our bus!

When we got down to the first bus stop, I rested my ankle. Wow. Bad decision. It started hurting x10 more, and now I could hardly put any weight on it.

Eventually Mary and I got to the Bariloche terminal. I was limping like crazy, we were both sunburnt, and our bus had been cancelled. Luckily we got another one, but not for 2 hours. So we ate empanadas and laughed about our situation.

Later, right before we got on our bus, someone ran over to me and handed me a whole roll of medical wrap and just walked away!! Mary and I sat there with our mouths dropped. That is the sweetest thing any stranger has ever done. We both wanted to cry!! I wrapped my foot, with this angelic medical wrap, and it felt a little better.

When we got to El Bolsón, we had to wait for a taxi to take us to our hostel, La Casona De Odile. When we got there, wow. The employees were so welcoming! The place was beautiful!! I felt like I was living a fairytale. Too bad I couldn’t walk. And the funny thing is, they gave me a top bunk. Top bunk! It was quite the adventure trying to get up there. But I managed. Ya girl got through it.

Sadly, we only booked this hostel for one night. The next day, we had to hustle over to our other hostel Earthship Patagonia. Wow. Earthships are so cool!?! New goal in life: Make my own Earthship.

There was a lovely market happening in town, so Mary and I mozied around and bought some dulce waffles and fruity smoothies. They were delicious! We also took a walk to Humus, a farm who sells fresh ice cream, cheese, and beer! We walked with a friend we made at the hostel, Sam.

When we got there, to our surprise two of our friends from Odile were there! We chatted with them for awhile. They’re so cool! We made plans to meet up later in the week.

The rest of El Bolsón was pretty slow. I realized how bad my ankle was, so I stopped exploring and started resting. The town of El Bolsón isn’t much. Most people go there to hike, which is what we were planning to do. But because of the ankle situation, our plans got a little skewed. The days became gloomy and cold, so it was even more reason to stay inside and rest my ankle.

The last night spent at The Earthship was great. We all sat around the fire in the greenhouse. We learned a lot about how this particular Earthship was built, and our friend Andreas bought us all some beer to sip on! It was brewed right around the corner. It was sooo good.

The 24, or rather, 25 hour bus ride back to Buenos Aires was uneventful. Mary and I slept most of our time away. Being back in the city is bittersweet. I thought I’d get here ready to conquer, but I’m kind of missing my homebase in Tucson! I’ve made it through more than half of this trip, so now I just need to push forward and continue learning and growing!

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The Adventures of Tige

To my attention, unschooling is an unknown concept in South America, let alone Buenos Aires. So to hear Blake say that a woman studying the art of self direction learning, wanted to take us on a field trip caught me off guard. No one knew who she was. Only that she wanted to interview us and take us to the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where it rains and there’s mosquitos and we need to work in mud and chop bamboo in return. Who was this woman? Even though this was a very bizarre situation, everyone was sold. Lots of us thought it was a bad idea, but we still wanted adventure. There was essentially no planning or itinerary whatsoever. Blake didn’t know where we were going or who we were staying with.

“This is the least planned trip I’ve ever led,” he said.

DAY ONE

The day started at 7:45am. Jumped out of bed, quickly packed my bag, scrubbed my teeth, and out the door I was. We all met at the train station and took an hour long ride to the town of Tigre.  There we got a load of groceries and waited for our boat to take us to Gabby’s Island. The town of Tigre is extremely small. The majority of the area is composed of numerous rivers. Deltas instead of roads.

“Our lives revolve around the boats,” said Gabby

We took the ferry to the island Gabby’s property is located on. We stepped off on the main dock and followed the little delta to her house. We passed many houses, all varying in shapes and sizes. Only one thing was common among the houses; All were built upon stilts, due to floods being so common. Dogs ran free though the small island, playing and jumping into the water. After a ~15 minute walk, our bodies sore from holding two full water jugs and all our gear, we got to Gabby’s house. We threw down our things, changed into our bathing suits behind bushes, and quickly jumped in the water. The weather was hot and humid, and the water had the perfect chill. I swam, I watched my friends jump into the water, competing to see who could make the biggest splash. I marveled at the beauty of the situation. Where we were. It was overwhelming. Tucker and Spencer covered their bodies in mud from the bottom of the river for a truly luxurious spa experience.

The afternoon was slow. We eventually all ate lunch, set up tents and played in the grass. We all kept our swim suits on because who doesn’t want to jump into a cold river on a hot day every 30 minutes? It was a freeing experience. I felt at ease and I loved being surrounded by the nature.

Later in the day I started my worktrade. I started off by whacking tall green plants with a machete. Then I moved to hammering some nails. Only 3. Then I went to Documentation Station. I walked around taking photos of what everyone was doing. I’m sad I don’t have those pictures to post! After I was satisfied with the amount of photos, I asked what else I could do. Not much, Pia said to come back later. To my satisfaction, it started to drizzle. I unlaced my work boots and ran through the grass, attempting to hold my handstand longer than 3 seconds. The rain quickly picked up. It was no joke. Harder and harder. Soon everyone was playing in the rain, and using the puddly grass as slip and slides.

Since I was the first to start dancing in the rain, I was the first to retire to the coziness to Gabby’s house. I dried off and watched everyone from the kitchen window. They all started to move our tents to higher ground, since the grass essentially turned into a big pool. The rain did not decide to stop. Everyone squished into the house suspended on stilts. I started helping with dinner. We were making fresh pasta. Eggs, flour, water, salt, what more do you knead.

Through the process of pasta making, the electricity went out.

“It’s normal,” said Gabby, who is apparently used to huge storms and dark kitchens, “it’s a part of our life”

A quiet hum of guitar strings drifted through the house. As dinner rolled on, Mary and I were simply the pasta queens. We mixed, we kneaded, we spent countless hours rolling pasta dough through the machine. We even served! “Orddder uP!”

The night was laid back. Most people sat on the deck and played Hot Seat. I stayed indoors and played card games, safe from mosquitos. We all head to bed pretty soon in the night, only to prepare for an early morning.

DAY TWO

I am in love with crisp morning air. I am in love with unzipping my tent and being greeted by the songs sang by birds.

I walked up to Gabby’s deck and listened to Tucker play the guitar. Little by little everyone woke up. We got breakfast started and had a little meeting huddle to plan the day. A small group of us were planning on taking a boat to a more remote island to help Gabby’s friend make a house out of mud. Blake said it would be very intensive work, and since I didn’t do much the previous day, I was ready for a challenge.

We gobbled down our breakfast, packed our backpacks, and set off towards the dock in order to grab the boat on time. We got to the dock 2 minutes to spare, as we thought at the time. Taking boats in Tigre is very similar to taking a bus. You stand at the edge of the dock, and when you see the boat you want you wave it down. All was going to plan until we tried to wave down the boat. They decided not to stop. Pia ran to ask a man fishing nearby if there were more boats to be expected. There was, he said, two more should be passing by. With that knowledge, we just assumed we simply just tried to wave down the wrong boat. We tried again and again, more boats passing us by and waving their little fingers “no.”

Hours past. We had been sitting at the dock for 2 hours. At this point a few of us were jumping into the water, knowing that our trip to the other island was probably cancelled. We laid on the dock, soaking up vitamin D and talked about adventures, relationships, and our future plans.

Eventually we walked back to Gabby’s house. Gabby was upset the boats didn’t stop, “It’s a problem we’ve had before,” she said.

Since the trip to Gabby’s friends house was cancelled, some of us are planning to return to Tigre, just for the intention of helping with the mud house.

But for today, we agreed to help Gabby with whatever she needed. We were here to work. After preparing lunch, I was assigned to work on the path leading up to the little bungalow that was under construction. We laid down large logs and filled the cracks with dry grass and mud. I love getting my hands dirty, and it was finally an experience I felt good about helping with. I could clearly see the positive impact I was helping create on Gabby’s property. The reason we were making a path is so when it rains they have a dry place to walk compared to walking ankle deep in a big puddle.

After a good amount of work, it was time to start heading back to the town of Tigre. At the dock, Gabby thanked us for all the work we’ve done. We caught the boat, and we all awarded ourselves with a McFlurry from McDonald’s when we got to stable land. We boarded the train back to the Belgrano train station. I was extremely tired. I was very close to falling asleep on the train. My adventure is over, I thought. Just a short bus ride after this train. Then I can fall asleep.

Wrong!

My roommates and I got on the bus and headed home. Pia took the same bus with us, and we all reflected on the adventures we had in Tigre. Through the big bus windows it appeared to start raining. Quite hard, actually. When we got to our stop, we had to jump over a huge puddle rushing down the street. It was raining really, really, hard. Unfortunately, I was wearing my Birkenstocks that you’re NOT supposed to get wet! I slipped them off and hid them in my shirt and we all started running through the streets. We ran, we ran, we ran. To our surprise, we accidentally got off the bus a stop early. we had to run 15 blocks. Not one part of us was dry. We were clearly drenched. Halfway to the apartment we stopped and rearranged. I put on my hiking boots, thinking I probably shouldn’t be running through the city barefoot. I also grabbed my umbrella, Karen grabbed her poncho, and we started running again.

We eventually got to our apartment. Leif and I squeezed ourselves and our backpacks into our 3 person maximum elevator. We were dipping quite a lot. We whispered some apologies to our doorman, who would probably have to clean up our wet mess.

After running around the apartment drying electronics (RIP MY KINDLE), hanging clothes up to dry, and drying up the wet floors, I fell asleep, and the adventure of Tigre finally came to a close.

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1 Month into the Argentina Semester

¡Hola! Buenos días. Today is officially one month into my Buenos Aires Semester. One month that I’ve been living in an apartment with three other people. One month I’ve been exposed to Argentine culture. One month I’ve been taking Spanish and Tango classes. One month of something new everyday! I thought I’d use today as a time to reflect on some things I’ve learned this past month.

1. While city life is fun, it can also be very overwhelming if you don’t make time for yourself.

2. Reading is great. On subways, on buses, waiting for something to start. I’ve gotten SO much reading in this past month.

3. Always be prepared. You never know when something will be cancelled or a torrential downpour is about to happen.

4. This city is huge. Does it ever end? Nope I don’t think so.

5. Communication with roommates is very important. Plan your meals, take turns cleaning, and support each other!!

6. Spanish is hard. I’ve definitely learned a lot of Spanish during this first month, but I haven’t pushed myself hard enough. I’m still scared to communicate with porteños, but I’m semi confident in ordering from a coffee shop or a pastry shop. Otherwise I just smile and say sí, sí, sí!

7. Pizza here is gross. Empanadas here are great.

8. Bagged milk is a just an overall struggle.

9. The exchange rate from pesos to usd is hard to understand. I still don’t really know what I’m spending. But I guess it’s good because it forces me to only buy what I REALLY need.

10. Dulce de leche is delicious and I’ll eat it on anything

11. When people have access to alcohol when they didn’t before, it gets out of hand very quickly.

12. Waking up early is an easy way to feel good about yourself.

13. Even though I’m in South America, I sometimes feel like I’m just in New York. Big cities are very similar.

14. I definitely feel much more confident being by myself. Next week the group is taking a trip to Bariloche, and a friend and I extended our return date 4 days after everyone else is leaving. I’m excited to be by myself and be surrounded by nature.

15. Never leave your kindle in the top pocket of your backpack when it’s raining. It will get water damaged. It will break. And you will have no way of reading all your books. You will be very sad.

16. Argentines are always late. The event says it starts at 9, but it doesn’t ACTUALLY start till 10:30. Another thing, clubs don’t open till 3am and you probably won’t be home until 7-8am. I have yet to experience this.

17. You won’t even think about missing your friends and family and your life back home until you Skype with someone. You see your dog, you see your house, and then u get sadddd

18. I’ve decided number 18 will just be an appreciation to my tango teacher Alejandro. Wow. He’s so great. 10/10 would recommend for tango classes or deep psychophysical advice.

19. Although city life is definitely stimulating, I think I prefer less city and more nature. We just got back from a 2 day trip to Tigre to swim in rivers and sleep in tents. We helped with construction and made paths made out of mud. It rained a lot and the power went out. It was such a simple day that led to pure happiness and satisfaction.

20. El Helado is definitely an addiction and I can’t stop eating it. Thanks, Blake.

That was fun. Maybe I’ll make one of these each month. 2 more to go!

Thanks for reading!

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1 year anniversary

Posted to Facebook on June 10th:

Two weeks and five days ago marked my one year anniversary since I dropped out of high school to pursue unschooling. I wasn't sure what was in store for me, all I knew is that I felt trapped in the school system and I would be happier if I left. And as many of you know, I received a lot more support than expected. From both my teachers and friends. Every time I talk about how influential my last year has been for me I always cry. It's been pretty damn great.

Here's a recap of my "Junior Year:" In the summer following right when school ended, I was lucky enough to be accepted into the Smith College Women's Writing Workshop. Even though this feels so long ago, I am still so grateful for my teachers John and Marlee for feeding my brain and teaching me things about writing I never would've discovered on my own. After that, I attended two sessions of Not Back To School Camp, which was the first place where I openly expressed my feelings about my decision to drop out, and where I found my first group of new, lovely and incredible friends who were in the same boat as me. Camp this year is only 57 days away. You have NO idea how excited I am.

After the summer, I continued taking circus classes, I started my own darkroom, I opened an Etsy shop, and I continued writing and attempting to write music.

A big aspect of my last year was the Simply New Zealand trip led by Unschool Adventures. This trip was focused on simplicity, happiness, and backpacking around the South Island for 6 weeks. Right after session 1, I discovered there was one more spot left for the trip, so I applied instantly. Then before I knew it, I was on a 14 hour flight headed to Christchurch, New Zealand. I spent the 6 weeks traveling, learning, seeking meaningful friendships, and gaining so much independence, confidence, and excitement for my life that I was completely overwhelmed.

A month and a half after New Zealand ended, I was on another flight headed to Crested Butte, Colorado for the Real World Retreat. Another amazing retreat led by Unschool Adventures. This trip focused on learning the necessary materials in order to be confident in transitioning to adulthood from alternative education. The relationships I gained during this retreat are above all else. Leaving my friends and watching them board their flights home broke my heart. I usually love being alone to navigate airports by myself, but all I wanted was my friends by my side making jokes and laughing with me. Although I have an iNSANE amount of love for every one of my Unschool Adventures trips and all my friends I've made throughout this year, every time I watch Tucson come into view from my flights home warms my heart. It allows me to take a deep breath, cleanse my thoughts, and relax from my usual endless adventure.

The rest of my year looks like lots of circus, lots of NBTSC, and in January boarding a flight to Buenos Aires Argentina where I'll spend 3 months volunteering, learning, and growing even more. I am so ecstatic about what's in store and I can't believe that such a small decision to attend that ONE soaring group meet up in November completely changed my life. Thank you. thank you Mom, Brett, Tom, Molly, John, Marlee, Charlotte, Lola, Grace, Vanessa, Andy, Jay, Natalie, Blake, Ingmar, Kina, Jack, Karen, Jade, Cornelia, Erik, Kyle, Banyan, Sean, Eli, Max, Zoe, Autumn, Vick, Michael, Anika, David, Jasper, Violet, Laurun, and Ryan. I am probably forgetting 89% more people that have helped change my life this year, but this is the majority. tHANK YOU I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH.

in conclusion: wow I love unschooling and all my friends are pretty darn cool!

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RWR Update

Next Thursday is laundry day & the Thursday after that we lEAVE. That’s so soon??? I can’t imagine leaving. I don’t want to go home.

Here are the challenges for week 3:

Plan and execute a one-day adventure for little or no money

Have a conversation with a living human being whom you do not know

Price challenge: Find the cheapest auto repair shop in your area

Put yourself out there with another human being

Choose an area of interest to you, or a community. List 5 problems and come up with solutions.

Create a nutrition and exercise routine

Locate and apply for jobs and/or volunteer opportunities back home

Sell an item or service you’ve created to a stranger

Attempt a new skill or discipline

Research Beyoncé's music video Lemonade

I haven’t posted an update in awhile. Recently I have been waking up at 6:30, going to a coffee shop for 2 hours to work on challenges, dying hair, working out, and lots of drawing. I love Unschooling? Here’s a video I made about day 12. It’s cute and artsy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noQovQObMCs

Blake visited the hostel a few days ago. 25th - 29th. I admire him so much. He makes me want to be the best young adult I can be. I am absolutely eCSTATIC to spend 3 months with him in Argentina. I am so lucky. My life is amazing?? 

Let’s see. This morning I followed my daily routine of a bright & early walk and coffee work. On the way back, we witnessed, TWO elders wearing “Make America Great Again” hats. IRL. Trump supporters. Wild. Then I played baseball with Jack, Michael and David. Wow. I love baseball. 

That is all. I am happy. I need to join a baseball team. 

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Personal Mission Statement

I strive to expose myself to new and challenging things.

To provoke interesting and lingering conversations to understand people.

To not jump to assumptions or preconceived notions.

To always practice healthy communication in every relationship; platonic or romantic.

To not cower with my opinion. Instead, share and be confident with what I’m saying.

To always push myself to become better.

To always take care of myself, and be aware of my surroundings.

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look at my rad resumé!!!!!!! I’m so pumped!!!!

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100 Gratitudes

Bees

Rain

Mountains

Big climbing trees

Educational freedom

Grace Llewellyn

Blake Boles

Matt Sanderson

Yummy food

Thrift stores

Jack’s jokes

Family

Acne medication

My brother

Cassandra

Matti Baine

Fruit

Brett Goble

My supportive friend group @ school

City High School

NBTSC

The amazing people I’ve met at camp

Poetry

Books

Podcasts

Birds

Bernie Sanders

Laughing

Musicians

Writing music

Singing

Musical instruments

Consent

Opening up to someone special

Smart phones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Modern technology

Modern medicine

Photography

Handstands

Katherine

Skylar Bates

Blankets

DOGS

Jasper Posey

Flowers

Flower crowns

Fairies

Imagination

Creativity

Accountability Buddies

The sun!

Paramedics

Makeup

Style

YouTube

Tobuscus (joke)

Movies

Bikes

Activists

Protesters

Donators

Teachers

Listeners

Hands

Feet

Big hearts

Belly bracelet

Traveling

Unschool Adventures

Smith College

Evergreen college

Language

Sign language

My privileges

Platonic affection

Piercings

Journalling

Classes

Mentors

Glitter

Communication

Hiking

Dreams

Letters/Pen-Pals/Post Offices

Motivation

The hostel for not burning down

Conspiracy theories

Science

Evolution

Space travel

Garbage men/women/non-binary

Phone calls

Holding hands

Electricity

Wi-fi

Time travel

Our universe

Confusion

Checklists

Everything

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100 Goals

TRAVEL

Travel to Amsterdam

Visit Jasper and Skye in Alaska

Visit Skylar

Hike up a mountain

Backpack around Europe

Road trip around the USA

Travel to the North Island of NZ

Bike as my main source of transportation

Attend Evergreen State College

Go on morning walks

Visit Jack, Vick, Michael, McCall, Kassiah, and whoever else lives in the Bay area

See the northern lights

Backpack the Grand Canyon

Become fluent in Spanish

PASSION

Challenge myself everyday

Write music

Write a poetry book

Write a short story/fiction book

Be strong / workout daily

Update my blog regularly

Upload regularly on YouTube

Learn to play piano

Learn to play the harp

Learn calligraphy

Showcase my art

Submit my art to magazines & art shows

Go East Coast Swing dancing at least once a month

Compete with ECS

Learn Balboa

Learn aerials in ECS

Start a Bandcamp

Journal everyday

Start a punk band that actually kicks ass

Shoot a roll of film once a month

Achieve my right, left, and middle splits/ Stretch everyday

Start learning the 10th sequence before Argentina

Read 3 books a month

Reread my favorite books

Learn to ride a unicycle

Juggle clubs comfortably

My 1-subject many-forms thing

Practice rope

Pole dance

Dance Tango with Blake in Argentina

Screen print my own T-shirts

Compile a book of short stories from other Unschoolers

Take and practice photography all the time

Sketch people

Keep my aesthetic on point

Bask on the street

Hold my meat hook one handed

Write a story/book on my typewriter

Start hand balancing

See my favorite bands in concert

COMMUNICATION

Constantly practice asking for consent

Don’t assume what people want

Fall in love by the 36 questions

Radiate love & acceptance

Be open to any conversation

Express my opinion

Don’t be judgmental

Cleanse myself of social media

Email people who have made an impact on my life (Brett, John, Marlee, Kelly)

Be confident saying “No.”

Be in a healthy romantic relationship

Be in a polyamorous relationship

Often have deep conversations

Cuddle always

Go take alone time when I know I need it

Marry Anika

Marry ____ :^)

WORK

Graduate from NBTSC

Get a job

Get an internship

Go to community College

Work at a coffee shop

Elect Bernie for President

Do a Tedtalk

Perform with Zoppé

Get to level 50 in Habitica

Expand my Etsy shop (sell my camera straps)

Become financially independent

Speak at an Unschooling panel at a conference

PERSONAL

Eat healthy

Shave my head

Simplify my clothes/closet

Become friends with _____

Get my septum & webbing pierced

Get a tattoo

Inspire others

Stretch my ears to 2g

Become Joel in all entirety

Drink a shit ton of water always

Grow fairy wings

Drink tea

Come up with a solid morning routine

Be roasted by Vick

Grow happy healthy plants

Don’t eat ice cream for dinner

Beat Blake in Set

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Failure Resumé

Sierra McLean

*insert contact into here*

Occupation Failures

Had a job interview at Target and didn’t get it

Opened an Etsy shop thats usually closed

Was offered an internship and never contacted them back

Education Failures

Was on prom committee and never showed up

Always had an A+ in classes but bombed all my tests

Failed my drivers test because of parallel parking and started crying

Was motivated to write a book about unschooling/dropping out. Wrote the first chapter and stopped.

Personal Failures

Bought a new guitar and stopped practicing

Been doing silks for 2+ years and still can’t do my splits

Tried to go on a hike but turned around pretty quickly

Tried to go snowboarding but instead I sat in the snow and cried

Not having clear communication in relationships

Assuming what people want without asking

Not fulfilling my NBTSC intention.

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Real World Retreat

Today, at 6am, I woke up very abruptly to the fire alarm sounding. I grabbed my jacket, ran out into hall, down the stairs, and out into the shivering 30 degree weather. Everyone soon emerged wearing pajama shorts, baggy T-shirts, and worried looks. Our hostel was full of smoke. We spent the first hour of our day walking shoeless in the gravel, searching for somewhere warm to stay until the firemen showed up. No one knew why it happened. 4 firetrucks showed up. After awhile, I lost feeling in my feet and we could return to our hostel. I wish I could say the smoke was caused by something cool, but in reality it was because we left a dry erase board up against the heater. Great way to start off the trip!

Hello! I am in Crested Butte, Colorado! I am here for 4 weeks, and it’s beautiful. I am surrounded by so many of my NBTSC friends and I’m eagerly waiting to become closer to the new participants.

The purpose of our trip is to become more independent with the support of the other participants. Here’s the mandatory outline of our days: Dinner and advisory at 6pm. Everything else, totally up to you. Of course, we have lots of provided workshops we can choose to attend, and challenges for us to complete, but everything else is up to you. 

We get about 10 challenges a week. We don’t have to complete all of them, but it’s a good way to spend our days together completing challenges with friends. Here are our challenges this week:

1. Set up an accountability system with a buddy

2. Create a failure resume and share it with other humans

3. Create a personal mission statement

4. Create an emotional health/self care plan for yourself

5. Create lists of 100 goals

6. Create a 100 gratitudes list

7. Interview people who are 10/20/30/40 years older than you about what their lives were like in their late teens/early twenties.

8. Create a personal webpage or blog

9. Intentionally enter into a genuine discussion with someone who holds an opposing view from you in such a way that both of you are able to communicate effectively and understand one another better.

10. Acknowledge your biases and create a practice that allows you to challenge or erode your biases on a regular basis

11. Create a gratitude practice

12. Critically examine ways in which you, as a member of a privileged group, oppress another group. Find several resources on ways in which you can address this issue.

13. List obstacles to living as you’d like to, workshop solutions with a partner

Personally, I will be attempting to update this blog more frequently, come up with a solid morning routine, go to yoga and silks classes, stretch and workout everyday. Those are my goals at the moment. I will be writing a followup post in a week or so.

Thanks for reading!!!

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a wrap up on lovely lovely new zealand

I flipped to a random page in my journal. It read:

“I’m very tired right now. I just filmed Karen play ukelee. Ukalele. Uked Ukulele. That’s a hard word to write in cursive. omg. I just got worried that my notebook was running out of power. ok. That’s bad lol. I’m chilling in the living room with Jack, Ingmar, Sean and Eli. It’s chill. Erik just joined us. My camera battery is dying. I need to charge it. I think my cursive is getting better. Ingmar is choosing a username for Habitica. He chose DookieMaster.”

I thought that flipping to a random page in my journal would be a cute and witty way to start this post. But really it just shows how I don’t know how to spell ukulele in cursive. It’s hard, what can I say.

I got back from New Zealand more than a month ago. “When I was taking off to Phoenix I reallllllllly cried. like the rumbling beneath me and how I was leaving on my own idk it was really sad.”

Can I just throw in random quotes from my journal here & there? yes? I’m going to. I’m sorry this post isn’t very cohesive. Whenever someone asks me about New Zealand my mind usually goes blank. And that’s what’s happening right now.

How Was New Zealand, Sierra?!

It was incredible! Eye opening! Inspiring! Lots of adjectives! I think what I got most out of my time in New Zealand was confidence in a foreign country. There was an immense amount of freedom. It encouraged me to apply for Argentina Semester in January. Something I was NOT expecting myself to apply for beforehand. What a small decision it takes to change everything. My life has had such a positive ripple effect. I think about it everyday. I’ll write more about Argentina in my next post :^)

What Did You Do In New Zealand, Sierra?!

I’m not going to repeat what was already said in my previous New Zealand post. If you want to know the outline and intention of the trip, click here

Instead I’ll share some lovely memorable moments :^) i. During one of the first few days, I chased the waves on the beach in Dunedin. I told everyone this was the happiest I’ve ever been. My jeans were rolled up as high as they could go but they were still drenched with salty sea water. We climbed some rocks and ran up a sand hill and did handstands in a field of grass.

ii. The Kepler track. The 4.5 hour hike up a mountain to Luxmore Hut. God it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. But breathtaking. *insert my awesome pics*

(group photo taken by Blake)

iii. Volunteering at the Holiday Park for two reasons. Firstly, our wonderful guide. We told her that Eli was a Pyromanic and she didn’t even laugh. She just told us how that’s not okay and we need to control him. Secondly, raking dirt. Really meaningful work. They dumped piles of dirt around the park for us to find and rake out on top of their beautiful luscious grass. It took 3 days of work to complete them all. What was the point? Who knows. Proof in the photo below.

iv. The night Jade, Karen and I suddenly decided we all wanted to apply for Argentina together. We ran down the stairs giggling and asked Blake about it in the Hostel kitchen. Such a great memory.

v. Cutting onions with Kyle? Crying our eyes out? Fighting through the pain? That was fun.

vi. Kayaking!!!! Snorkeling!!! Crystal clear water!

vii. After our stay in Totaranui, we took a water taxi back to Nelson. To our amazement, we came across 50 or so dolphins swimming and playing in the water. It didn’t seem real. lOOK AT THAT PICTURE!!!!! IS THAT EVEN REAL?!?

viii. Speaking of that picture, I took over 2,000 photos on this trip. I am so proud of all the wonderful shots I got. Here are some of my favorites :^)

damn hippies

just look at Erik devouring that salad

And that’s where I’ll end it. I’m obviously not going to write about every detail about my trip. You get the idea. New Zealand was an amazing 6 weeks :^) Sweetas. If you have any questions feel free to ask! :^) 

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whats the meaning of life?

to unschool. plug plug. thanks for the question, dad.