Gabi

One of the most special aspects of Miquon for me is the ability for students to naturally foster their curiosity of the world around them. It was with that spirit that during one Choice Time, a friend and I found ourselves safety-glasses-clad and smashing rocks onto bigger rocks to see what their insides revealed.

We took great joy in observing the patterns of how the rocks split open, sometimes jagged and sometimes smooth and clean. Also a source of excitement for us was looking at their beautiful interiors, whether gray and dull, or glimmering with a multitude of colors. Regardless of how conventionally “cool” or “pretty” they were, we relished in the fact that they revealed something — though we didn’t quite know what — about the history of the land we were exploring.

Since Miquon, I have carried with me that same excitement about going where my curiosity leads me and learning as much as I can about our world whenever I can. Some 10 years after that Choice Time, I indulged that same curiosity, and got in touch with the kid in me, by again breaking open rocks and examining their insides, finding renewed excitement in the little ways in which we can get to know the environment in which we live.

It is memories such as these that inspired me to spend my gap year at Miquon, working with the next generation of children and giving back to the place that shaped how I continue to look at the world every single day.