Taking Off My Putney Goggles

Well, after three weeks of being around wonderful people at a wonderful place, my Winterim at the Putney School is over, and I have returned back to Toledo. Yesterday was terrible due to all the goodbyes, so the post that ought to have occurred then is coming now.

We woke up yesterday, and everything was sort of sad because it was my last barn, and my last breakfast, and my last everything else. The goodbyes had started with teachers and such the day before, but my friends not until Saturday. Since it was the last day of AM Barn for everyone, many people wound up skipping since they were over eager for break, putting us slightly behind schedule, but that's alright seeing as classes and breakfast are 15 minutes later than usual on Saturdays. I took my shower and put on the scarf I had finished yesterday, and walked down to the last breakfast. After eating, Existentialism was supposed to start even later than usual, so I went to go hang out in the Fiber Arts Studio until 9 when the class was supposed to start. In class, we had a presentation by the last group on Rosencratz and Gildenstern, a modern play about the two Hamlet characters, and ate Dunkin' Donuts donut holes that a day student brought in. American Studies was my last class, and in it we finished and discussed Angels in America, which was interesting because we hadn't discussed so much that far, and everyone had fairly interesting interpretations of the text. After class, I went to lunch, and that's when the real horror set in. There was a big bus leaving for New York City at 1, so many of my friends were leaving then, and also most of them were leaving throughout the day. I think it may have physically hurt to see everyone leave, and after no one but those leaving Sunday were left the school felt terribly empty. I said good bye to Kyla, Blair, Alonda, and Maddy along with some others at 1, and then Max didn't leave until 2, so we hung out until then. At 2, Max took off for Burlington, VT, where she lives, and I was left feeling terribly alone. I still had people there to hang out with, but none of the core group of friends I had been hanging out with. I said by to Katharine at 3, and then hung out with some people who were left for the rest of the day. We sort of bummed around and read and watched TV and movies until dinner, then went back to Huseby again and watched The Big Lebowski and then other Youtube clips. I went to bed after finishing packing and saying goodbye to everyone, and then woke up at 6 to get to the airport in Manchester and begin my journey home.

My experience at Putney was truly incredible, and I wouldn't trade the people I met and things I did for the world. The school is an incredible place with a wonderful atmosphere, and the people are absolutely lovely and intelligent. The independence and responsibility they have to their own schooling and actions is something that would be wonderful for anyone to have, and helps them to prepare for any work that is ahead of them. In terms of differences with MV, I would say that MV is certainly more academically profficient and oriented, but there are three aspects of Putney that MV is very different from in.

1. The Work Program: Everyone had responsibilities to their community and takes care of the place they live in. They keep track of work credits the same as academic credits, and are required to work in every area of it. Furthermore, students on the Work Committee hold the students accountable for their work, and so the entire program is student run though there are, obviously, adults involved.
2. The Arts Program: Though MV has a sizable number of arts classes, Putney puts it to shame. The have a blacksmithery, printmaking facilities, ceramics studio, a great number of looms, painting studios, and a black room, which allows basically any art project that a student is interested in to be feasible. One of my friends was interested in making an African drum for her project week (a shorter version of Winterim), and honestly the only thing holding her back was the time limitation. Though students necessarily experiment with many different forms, they also have the ability to specialize in anything they wish, and are supplied with any reasonable supplies they desire. For instance, there were ceramics students working with porcelain, and students interested, and advanced in, painting and drawing had their own studios to work in.
3. Standards: I realize that I've spoken of this before, but I truly think that the student input on enforcing rules is wonderful. Particularly since 5 of the 9 members are students, so that in voting students always have the final say and the faculty cannot simply override them.

Below, I have some pictures (finally) of my friends from Putney, and look forward to the memories of a wonderful 3 weeks of an adventure in Vermont.

And the Turkeys Came Marching In

Today, we both had shortened classes due to March of the Turkeys, and the perk of then getting to eat the food involved n the feast.

I presented for Existentialism with my group on the Rhinoceros by Ionesco, and I believe it went fairly well. The class was greatly abbreviated, but we managed to get it in. Also, in ceramics, I started the glazing f my elephant, which I then finished during conference block, along with helping the teacher to load the kiln. Evidently, Putney has a gas kiln, which is quite uncommon for high schools, and even colleges. The advantage of it, according to my teacher Naomi, is that you can sort of suffocate the fire inside, which somehow helps. I'm not entirely clear on the details. Out it was very cool to get to see all the finished pieces. It really never stops being incredible how amazingly talented everyone here is. There are some kids in ceramics who truly make gorgeous pieces, and are very dedicated to their work. It's truly amazing to see everything that they make. This was also my last class, which was terribly sad, and which kept on going throughout the day. It truly has been one of goodbyes, seeing as its the last full day I will have with many of my friends. I've been trying not to think about it, but it sort of looms. Anyways, we had about an hour between classes and dinner, so I went and listened to my friend Max practice violin, and take pictures of the barn animals in preparation for my departure.

At 2, we all went to the KDU (which I discovered stands for Kitchen Dining-room Unit) and sat down for a lovey Thanksgiving dinner. Students from the Celtic music class played fiddle and folk tunes as we were walking in and sitting down, then the freshmen served the fruit and nut course, which was very fun because they were all slightly awkward. After that, we listened to a clip from a March of the Turkeys in 1945 that has recently been discovered that was from the founder of the school's address so many years ago. It was very interesting in that it was directly after the war, and though she said that they were to be thankful for the end of the war, they still had a great responsibility to help the world. I was actually interesting because she said they had little else to be thankful for. Also, it was interesting because evidently 3 students died and 3 were injured. Anyways, the food and company was great, and afterwards it was a lazy afternoon. We played Rummy-O, a number game, after 4 until the 5 o'clock dorm cleanup, and then I went for a walk with some friends and returned at 7 to go to fiber arts. I finished my scarf in fiber arts, and I am wearing it as I type this, which is terribly exciting. It's something to treasure as a souvenir from this amazing experience forever. Even though I know that this is the last day and I'm leaving Sunday, though most leave n Saturday, it doesn't seem as if its real because my experience here has been so amazing, and though I want to go home I don't want to leave her either. Well, I'll try to put off the thought until I must face it tomorrow, and the I shall write a big sappy post about it all, until then, I think I prefer denial.

The Perks of Being an AM Cow Barn Worker

I realize today is no longer Thursday, but time sort of escaped me and I'm not entirely sure where it went, which seems to have been happening increasingly all week  a my departure looms. However, I shall now be writing two posts in order to cover this.

Well, yesterday, I went to AM barn and was welcomed by the pleasant prospect of getting to go to Dunkin' Donuts as an end of the trimester treat for the crew. We got all of the chores finished very quickly and managed to leave by 7 to drive into town, however, we didn't return until 8, leaving me with no time to shower and barely enough time to change and get to class on time. When I got to class, y first one was Existentialism and we heard about other's strange modern plays and the absurdity of them. After that, we had sing, my last one, which was as enthusiastic as ever, though some seniors boycotted it because the director and they had had a slight misunderstanding, and so did not come, cutting back on quite a bit of the enthusiasm. After that, I had ceramics, where I glazed some more pieces. I'm nervous about seeing how they'll turn out.... Friday is also the last  day for glazing. We also continued reading Angels in America, which is a fascinating play that is very well written and brings up controversial topics very well, but I think the teacher isn't doing as much with it as she could. Regardless, I'm enjoying it immensely. I had my presentation for poetry, and made it through despite some technical difficulties. Due to my computer's old age, is was unable to connect to the projector, and the version of office I have was not compatible with other's computers. As a result, we spent about half an hour working on it, and ended in a PDF file that we emailed to other students to look at on their computers. I managed to make my way through it with no further mishap, and I think the power point and presentation went across quite well.

During the afternoon there were no activities because of work job training for the next trimester, so I went to work in the ceramics studio. Since my elephant was not yet out of the bisque firing, I finished my other pieces and then did a bit of throwing, which didn't go too well but I think was an improvement from my first failure of an attempt. I'm going to miss working in ceramics every day.

Anyways, after dinner I had fiber arts, and finished weaving my scarf! It was extraordinarily exciting.  Milissa took it home with her in order to wash it, and I get it to keep on Friday. March of the Turkeys, Putney's version of thanksgiving, is tomorrow and I'm quite excited.

Wonderful Wednesdays

Today was my last day off of barn before I leave, and it really is marvelous to feel as if 7:30 is sleeping in. Although not exactly wonderful that that is the amount of sleep you then get...but anyways.

I only had two classes today since it's Wednesday, and in poetry I managed to finish my power point for my presentation tomorrow, and the rest of my afternoon was basically spent on writing the notes, albeit distractedly, which I shall now proceed to complete. It's getting pretty sad to think about leaving, especially since I have made friends with a lot of the people here. However, going on with the day, in ceramics I finished glazing the piece I had begun yesterday, and then glazed two more pieces. I'm excited to see how they'll all turn out since the glazes look entirely different before being fired. Tomorrow I should be able to finish the bowl I'm working on right now, along with the elephant mask, though I'll probably have to go in during my afternoon activity block, but that isn't a problem since all the other students have work job training tomorrow in preparation for their new jobs in the second semester when they return from Thanksgiving break. Today was slightly exciting due to the fact that there was no water until about 3 o'clock since Putney's water system has been being replaced for the first time in about 60 years, and today was the day when they switched off the old system to turn on the new. Unfortunately, everything has been muddy as a result of all the construction, but hopefully that will be fixed soon since they've already reseeded the grass.

After classes, I generally sat about with friends and hung out, very lazy as usual, though Max and I made it to the KDU to get some tea (they had Chai today, which was a treat) and bread for snack, and then the staff was very lovely and gave us some cake as well. I wound up not going to dinner at the KDU tonight either since one of my friends, Alonda, and her roommate had ordered Chinese food from Brattleborough and invited me to share it with them, so we had a little dinner party on the floor of their room. Tomorrow is the last full day of classes, since Friday is March of the Turkeys, and though I can't tell if we have classes Saturday, even if we do they're only in the morning anyways. Starting to take more pictures in order to keep the memories too!

The Last Tuesday

Well, today it has been really hitting me that I will be leaving on Sunday, which is both horrible and wonderful at the same time. However, I suppose I have the rest of the week so I had better make the best of it.

Anyways, today in poetry I finished revising my essay and outlined the presentation I will be giving on T. S. Eliot on Thursday, though the rest of the class has the honor of doing so after the break. Seeing as I shall not be here then, I think that would be fairly difficult, and so I am a bit more cramped for time than them. Ceramics was my second class, and since the masks are finished and everything is bisque fired, we were able to start glazing our pieces. It's very interesting to see all the glazes and how they combine, particularly since they look extremely different after being fired, often even entirely different colors, so it's a bit of a surprise to see how pieces come out. The surprise is lessened, of course, by the sample pieces that they have glazed in order to demonstrate how the glazes turn out, and then also a few little bowls that demonstrate how they react with each other when they're mixed. I started to glaze a bowl yesterday, but didn't have time to finish it or begin other pieces since the teacher, Naomi, had to demonstrate the technique for me and a couple of other newbies. Although the kiln won't be fired until after I leave Putney after Thanksgiving break, I think that I will be able to get a friend to package all of my pieces up and mail them to me if I give her the money to do so. Anyways, after lunch I had American Studies, where we began to read Angles in America, a play about the gay community in New York City during the Reagan administration. I have heard from some of the seniors that it's a wonderful play, so I'm interested in going forward with reading it. Well, after classes I had ballet, which was my last dance class here at Putney. I took a picture with the teachers and the other students for memories, but luckily I won't truly be saying goodbye to anyone for a while still. The rest of the afternoon was very lazy, but for evening activity I had Fiber Arts, and my scarf is very nearly finished. I actually had to stop early last night so that I will have enough room left to use some of the new colors that the teacher had ordered in time for today, but the shipment had been backlogged. Though the scarf is not exactly a work of art, I'm very excited to see how it will turn out in the end.

Well, it was another lovely day at Putney, only four left!

Another Lapse....

I'm terribly sorry about not posting last night. Last night was slightly insane and dramatic due to some of the actions of the students, and as a result The blogpost managed to completely slip my mind. Anyways, yesterday was, yet again, quite balmy. I think we're experiencing a bit if an Indian summer here in southern Vermont, and I both hope that it will end to bring in the snow, and that it'll continue so that we can enjoy the great outdoors.

The cows were lovely as ever yesterday, though there was some slight insubordination in the ranks as a result of a couple of students shirking their responsibilities. There is also a calf who seems to have decided that it is quite amusing to head butt me while I'm scraping out its stall, and the play became slightly annoying yesterday, but another student gave me the tip to whack them in the shins when they do that.....so I might be armed, even though that sounds awfully unpleasant. The explanation for this behavior is, I believe, that the way they get more milk to fall into their mother's pouch is by head butting it, and so the calves occasionally do that to humans as well when their hungry, though it doesn't exactly yield reinforcing results. My first class of the day was poetry, where we workshopped my rather horrible draft of an essay, and determined that I will be presenting my project on Thursday.....which I can't say that I feel horridly prepared for, but we'll see. After the first class we had assembly, which I don't think I have managed to mention on here before, but is much more formal than MV's assembly, and is more similar to our soapboxes because they generally have presentations along with announcements. I think they get around having announcements every day by having this mass email system called Community Comments that sends messages to the whole school . Anyways, these occur Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and there's an semblance where we all sing on Thursdays. But yesterday's presentation was by a foreign exchange student on Japan, and the also speeches made by students running for dorm head, which is a position that coordinates dorm life and weekend activities. After that, I had ceramics, where I presented my elephant head that I had made as an African mask, and got to see everyone else's masks and the story behind the culture and tribe that they had based it off of, which was very interesting to hear about. After lunch, I had existentialism, where we spoke about the play Tango in preparation for our own presentations of plays of modern theatre.

I spent the rest of my afternoon helping a friend to film her movie for her final film in her class, which was very fun, but required quite a bit of running around campus in order to find costumes for her rather specific artistic vision. Dinner was sit down, where the seniors acted as waiters, and was quite good. They served squash lasagna and pesto. The night was mildly insane due to some students getting in trouble, but I think it will all pan out alright. The kids are going to Standards to get their verdict today (the day after I ought to have written this post).

Two Days Are Better Than One

Well, it would appear that I didn't quite get around to writing a blog post last night, so today there's going to be double.

The excitement that led to the blog post remaining undone was, namely, the event of coffee house. Yesterday was Saturday, was we had classes in the morning (Existentialism and American Studies), but none in the afternoon. As a result, I spent the afternoon sort of floating around after being introduced to the wonders of Dogma, a movie, by one of my friends, and had a generally lazy afternoon. Then, after dinner, everyone got sort of dressed up for coffee house since the theme was "casino," and they're much more enthusiastic than we are in that regard. So I helped a girl to look like she was from the 50's, and then put on my own sequined top from the 80's, and we went down to play cards before the performing began. I managed to play BS, but seeing as I have not had too much experience with other gambling games, my interaction with those was woefully lacking. However, the performances themselves began soon, opening with a band of four boys playing a song by Rage Against the Machine extremely enthusiastically. The coffee house lasted about two hours, but the funny part was that it wasn't painful. Typically at talent shows or coffee houses are anything like that, you get at least one or two acts that are at least mildly painful to watch because, though the person ought to be given credit for having the courage to stand up and perform like they do, they don't have as much talent as they might. However, here at Putney, it doesn't seem like they have that problem. Oh, certainly there were some acts that were better than others, but overall everyone did extraordinarily well and performed admirably. My room mate sang in quite a few different acts, and many of my friends performed. There were the typical sort of joking acts that were put on to laugh at, though they were good regardless of their intention. But along with that there were the acts that people had put real work into and took very seriously, and none of them disappointed. Then, there were the ones in the middle that neither took themselves too seriously, but still displayed real talent, such as a cello and violin duet that ended with the cellist clogging while the violinist played. Anyways, it all only went to enforce my opinion that everyone at Putney is supremely talented, and the entire community is very supportive of their work.

Well, after my adventures of last night, I woke up to do barn this morning and it was downright balmy compared to how the weather has been lately. After barn, since brunch doesn't begin until 9 on Sundays, I went back to bed with the intention to take a little nap, and wound up sleeping all the way to 12 and missing brunch entirely. After that, I managed to grab some coffee so that the rest of my day wasn't miserable. I spent the day working on an essay about T. S. Eliot, and managed to get about half of it finished, which I intend to finish after writing this blog post. Other than that, today was very relaxed, and there was ice cream for dinner, which was a nice change, particularly after missing brunch.