The Buzz

The first day was a jetlag-drenched adventure, a whirling, overstimulating blur of sunlight and new food and French. There was nothing for it but to follow the Flemings and hope not to fall asleep standing.

Proctor's Mountain Classroom program reconvened for the Spring Term with a new group of students ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime over the next nine weeks. The group arrived in Tucson, AZ last week and headed to their first campsite at Gilbert Ray Campground. We oriented to our academic courses and the equipment that will play a large role in our lives for the next couple months: the bus, trailer, kitchen, tents, and food planning systems. While in Tucson we also enjoyed an afternoon at the stunning Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  Our next stop: rock climbing in Cochise Stronghold! Enjoy student reflections from the first week of the term below. 

Admissions decisions were sent to accepted students at 12:01 AM this morning! Proctor had another record setting admissions cycle, but when asked why there is such strong demand for a Proctor education, we often struggle to articulate a concise answer. Proctor’s educational model works not because of a single program, but because of the unique combination of programs and culture undergirding each student’s experience.

I have been looking forward to this term since my application to Proctor. Finally being here closes my time of being a student at Proctor. I sit with my peers on this final night I am truly happy with what this term has given me. Dave always lectures us about living in the moment, and I think those are words that everyone should live by. European Art Classroom has been everything I hoped it would be and more.

Mountain Classroomstudents wrote their final blogs of the term on their climbing in Cochise Stronghold. After climbing, they traveled north to Prescott, Arizona and found audiences for their final projects. Students presented children’s books they wrote describing their science research to 3^rd graders, and then they presented their final English assignment to Prescott College students. The term finished with a student-led and designed backpacking trip that left from Arcosanti.

My concerns with the host family in Spain vanished as soon as I stepped into the house. The house is not big, and, to some extent, kind of compact. Yet, it is Olga, Cesar and Jimena that make it super cute, adorable, and most importantly, a family in a completely different region and culture. Whether it is Jimena jumping around, “cheating” in our chess games, posing for pictures and “pestering” for more chocolate, whether it is Cesar playing music, cooking the best fish dish that I have ever eaten and preparing a large tortilla de patata bocadillo to share with my friends, whether it is Olga chattering about my everyday experiences, waking me up from my daily siestas (“Nick, Nick, wake up”), “censuring” me for the untidiness in my room and always asking me to eat more food, I feel like that here in Segovia, I have found my other, long-lost family. For the first time in my life, I get to know the feeling of having a sibling in my life, to care for someone unconditionally. She seems to bring me happiness; her laughter, her dance, and her gibberish have the power to bring a wisp of sunshine through the gloomy sky. For the first time in my life, I get to have two families located in different areas who love and care for me equally.

Last week Proctor's Mountain Classroom group enjoyed themselves at Winter Count and then drove to Cochise Stronghold, east of Tucson, to be challenged rock climbing on gorgeous granite. Now the group has moved north to collaborate with Prescott College and wrap up the academic term while camping at Arcosanti. To conclude the term the group will spend two days and nights on a hiking expedition departing from Arcosanti into the adjacent public land in search of hot springs. Enjoy student reflections on Winter Count below!