Last night, my friends and I went to the Dixie Chicks concert in West Palm Beach. It was phenomenal. Great voices, outstanding musicianship, and great songs. I love everything about the Dixie Chicks, their talent and their moxie. One song in particular has the power to bring me back to a specific place and time...
It's my car, on the road, in the year 2005. I had only recently become a fan of country music. Dixie Chicks, Allan Jackson, and a few others. I had decided earlier that year I was going to leave my job as a principal. I wasn't happy at my job, at least in certain ways. Our son was finishing up first grade, and we wanted to buy a family home. We just didn't feel settled. It was time for a change. That spring, I gave up my position and set out to find something new. It was the only time in my life I quit a job before I had a new one lined up. But it just felt right.
I started looking for something different. I wanted to get back to working with at-risk youth, and I wanted to find a program or a place where there was an understanding and appreciation for experiential education and the outdoors. I didn't realize it at the time, but there was something brewing inside me. Ultimately, it would lead me to start my doctoral studies in curriculum. I found the perfect place, and boom! I took a job at an Eckerd Youth Alternatives program. Camp E-Tu-Makee, was a residential wilderness camp for adjudicated boys, with a full-time education component. I was hired to be their Education Coordinator. Imagine a school principal within a residential program, and that's pretty much what I did.
Everyone, or at least a lot of people, thought I was nuts. You're going to work with criminals? Aren't you scared? They must be paying you a lot of money for you to take that job. These were some of the comments and questions presented to me as people learned of my plans. In my head, all I could think is, this is exactly what I want to be doing. Sure I was nervous, but I was excited.
When I started the position, we hadn't yet moved to SW Florida. The camp was wedged between the city of Clewiston and the Seminole Indian Reservation. At the time, our home in Hollywood was about two hours away. I would have to endure the commute for about two months before we moved. It was a long scenic drive, down Alligator Alley to Snake Road that wound through the reservation. I had to be at work at 8:00, so I would do the drive during sunrise. It was absolutely magnificent. When I rolled down the windows in my car, I could smell and hear the plant and wildlife. It's impossible to describe, but it was a reminder to me I was right where I wanted to be. It was a pivotal time in my life. I moved away (though not far) from both my parents, all of my friends, and my entire professional circle. It was the first time I felt myself taking a risk and going with my gut. My husband and I were excited for the move.
I remember slipping the Dixie Chicks CD in almost every morning. Wide Open Spaces was not a new album, but somehow I had newly discovered it. I belted out the lyrics to the title track, with tears in my eyes and joy in my heart. I felt like a grown-up in control of my own destiny, and the world felt wide open for the first time. It marked the first time I made a decision that no one was expecting. I broke free of what everyone thought I would do, and did something my inner spirit was telling me was right. My husband and I talked it over for months, we hashed it all out and as always he supported me. Other people wondered what the heck we were doing, but I feel like that decision opened the gateway to the rest of our lives. I only worked at E-Tu-Makee for a little over a year, but it changed my life in so many ways. I learned so much about myself as a human being and an educator. I met students who would forever impact my pedagogy, and I worked with some incredible and compassionate people. "Wide Open Spaces" will always bring me back to that time. It was the anthem to the rest of my life.
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