Day Four-Success!

Today was our last full day at Dora Reed. All of the other days have seemed to pass rather slowly but today flew by. A lot of the students who I have come to know over the past couple of days were out sick. The project for the day was to create eggs to stick in the Easter Basket that will go on the door to celebrate the Easter season. They used dot paint and water colors to create multiple eggs, they were so proud of their creations and were anxious to show it off to all of the visitors. We also played with purple play dough, and the students could have played with it forever. Although it stained both our hands and the table...

We spent the afternoon together as a group initially on the search for ice cream, somehow we ended up separated and without the ice cream we had so desperately been craving over the past week. Whitney, Sierra, Amelia, and I ended up in the small town of Sylva while the rest of the group was in Bryson City. I honestly really have no idea how that happened but I enjoyed seeing the beautiful courthouse and the town reminded me a bit of Boone. We did eventually come back together tonight for our last dinner, I can not imagine having come on this trip with a better group of people. There is never a dull moment and I honestly do not believe I have ever laughed as hard or as much as I have this past week.

It hit me this afternoon that tomorrow I will have to say goodbye to my students that I have become so attached to this week. I was thinking about it today and Dora Reed is a lot like the Appalachian CDC that I work at on campus. There schedule is almost exactly the same during the day, but the children are of course different. It will most definitely be hard to say good-bye... I am already preparing myself for the tears. My students and even the teachers today were asking me if we could stay an additional week and I would love more than anything to be able to, and am hoping to come back this summer! It is incredible that after a week I have formed such a bond. I feel as if I have been working at the facility for years, I was truly blessed to be able to meet such amazing 3 & 4 year olds and work with teachers who made me feel as though I belonged. My eyes have been opened this week in ways that I never could have imagined.

Tomorrow will be bittersweet. We will be going to Dora Reed only to say goodbye to our students and doing some last minute shopping and sightseeing. I don't want to think about it just yet... Until tomorrow, Goodnight :)

Allie