December 9, 2016

By Isabella Farfan

Before I joined MarinSEL, I was kind of nervous to be in such a new group of people I didn’t normally hang out with. I wasn’t quite sure where I’d fit in with such a diverse group. At the retreat in August, I began to find my place in our class. I formed more bonds in three
 days than I did the first couple of weeks of middle school, which was pleasantly surprising to the stress case I was going into high school.

When the first day of school rolled around, I felt like I had so many connections and felt like I had a slight advantage over some of my other friends. Gradually the academics picked up and I noticed another trend among our small group: everyone seemed to be incredibly academically motivated. I’ve often been surrounded by academically motivated pupils, but the enthusiasm for learning that was demonstrated by my new classmates was a completely different experience than what I was used to. This really does make MarinSEL special in the sense that it’s a small community where most everyone is driven to succeed. I found that many had the dream of attending an Ivy League college or knew exactly where they wanted to go to college, which shows a lot, considering that most of us are fourteen. I have found in my short time in MarinSEL that it makes all the difference being in a learning environment where everyone wants to be there and wants to learn. I’ve found it motivates me to be the best student I can be by setting higher standards for myself. It even empowers me to believe that I can create actual change through our LEAD Projects. Being surrounded by people who challenge me and people I have bonds with has fostered a different more abstract way of thinking about school. This aspect is especially unique to MarinSEL and really defines what the program is (of course aside from the environmental leadership aspect). After all, we are all products of our environment.

In a way, the journey that is taking place right now in our MarinSEL class is that of the Hero’s Journey. The hero’s journey is a complex set of stages that supposedly “make” a hero. This is the template that Odysseus follows in the classic story of the Odyssey. Applying to such a rigorous program was the beginning, as we were leaving the known realm because we seeked more, or our parents forced us. However we got here, we were all mentoring each other on this confusing new road. In our LEAD Projects, we have our community partners to guide us through the unknown. With project week looming ahead, we must all work together to conquer the last parts of our projects and return to stasis once again. By the time we’ve completed our projects and taken something away from a semester’s worth of work, the cycle begins again.