This year is the first year that I have not written exams in the spring and also the first year I have not left for somewhere with the summer months approaching. As more and more collages shut their doors and the students vacate the hallowed halls I can't help but feel a pang of longing for the adventure that comes with moving yet again, (even though I don't miss the exams or papers at all.)
Harder still, is the fact that many of my friends are leaving and I'm, for the first time, the one being left behind. Walnut Grove seems to be getting emptier. Some friends will return in the fall - others are gone for good.
Raphael was my student for the last four months but she was also a classmate before she had a baby of her own. She was with me when I caught my first baby as a Registered midwife and has become a great friend to bounce ideas off and vent to about a long hard day or night of work. She will be greatly missed for her friendship, hard work, gentle touch and different perspective. Her daughter Naijah, who affectionately calls me Auntie Rachel and loves to hang out will be an absent ray of sunshine over the coming months. Maybe I'll have to go to the island to visit them!
Amylou was valedictorian for her class and of course, I'm very proud of her. Here's a piece of her speech that resonates deep inside of me and possibly in you too.
Today we mark one… giant… step… backwards…
You see, when we graduated from high school, when we came to University
We knew everything
We ate good healthy sanitary meals
We knew where “home” was
We knew who we were
We knew what was wrong with the world and exactly how to change it.
We knew that we were going to university because we were going to make a difference in the world. The world had no limits.
We were immortal. We were invincible. Nothing could harm us. The possibilities were endless.
Now…. as we graduate from university, we take a step backwards
We see how much we don’t know and it overwhelms us.
We no longer know everything.
We eat worse – we have to smell everything that comes out of the fridge.
We’ve realized that we have no home, or that “home” is not what we thought it was.
We’ve seen that we don’t know who we are or everything that we want from life
We see so much more clearly what is wrong with the world, …but we no longer know how to fix it.
We are discouraged by the little that we are able to do to make a difference.
We see that there are limits, and that we and our friends are neither immortal nor invincible. And the possibilities… are still endless.
Since I was 6 I dreamed of doing missions in Africa. That is why I left home to become a midwife. On June 20, my dream will become reality. I'll be leaving for Africa. I'm not afraid of going, I'm afraid of coming back - changed. I'm afraid of leaving a portion of my heart behind with the women and babies in the hospital's and orphanages.
