| 08/18/09 10:43 AM |
#41
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Susan G. Nesbit
Thanks, Barbara Hughes, for your recent submission. I, too, was very shy in high school, and I, too, submitted a long profile. In my journey after graduation, the extrovert in me surfaced and I gained the confidence I didn't have at Heights. I love the poem that Barbara included, and after living on the Canadian prairies, I'm visualizing the March/April return of the geese to Winnipeg, Manitoba. On the cold and windy prairies, the return of the geese symbolizes the end of a long cold winter with January temperatures averaging minus 16 degrees Celsius (plus 3 degrees Fahrenheit), and these chilly temperatures do not include the pervasive windchill factor. The return of the geese also symbolizes going from a dark place to a light place. January days average 8 hours of light and June days average 16 hours of light. Thanks, Barbara, for the visualizations, and of course, I also appreciate interpreting the poem regardless of the personal visualizations that I add to it.
Yesterday, while driving in the Sonoran Desert that defines Phoenix (I've gone from one temperature extreme to another), I heard "Crimson and Clover" and "Crystal Blue Persuasion" on my car radio. I'm reminiscent of the Tigers' Den. I love nostalgia.
I'll be updating my profile page soon; I'm moving back to New York City in about 1.5 weeks. I prefer the cold over the heat, and I miss the concrete jungle. I thank Heights for my appreciation of populous environments. I loved the choices available to us. Didn't we have the choice of 8 foreign languages? I studied French from grade 4 - grade 12. And we certainly had many options for science, English, gym, art, and so on. In another example of a populous environment, the Ohio State University offered me many degree options. And in NYC, thanks to the extensive grid system, I'll soon be choosing from a multitude of walking paths. I like to commute by subway, leaving time to get off one or two stops from my destination so I can enjoy a walk while I people watch.
I'm reminded of one of Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken," published in 1915. We interpreted this poem in English. Was it 10th-grade English? Anyhow, I see individualism in the ending lines, which read:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
I value my education at Heights. Although I was shy in my high-school years, my education influenced the person that I became; actually, I'm still becoming. I'm glad to have crossed paths with so many of you, even if the encounters were brief.
Okay, I've also become syrupy. Cancer has a way of changing a person, especially after dealing with four months of possible stage-4 cancer. There's nothing better than being able to say, "My breast cancer was 'only' stage 3."
I'd love to hear about other journeys after Heights. What roads did you travel?
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