This is it, guys!  Your last blog ever!  I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed reading these.  I appreciate you taking the time to articulate your thoughts here with creativity and sincerity, and I hope you’ve taken the time throughout the year to read the shared ideas of your classmates as well.  Ultimately, I hope that you will take the principles of what I try to accomplish with these humble blogs and continue to enact them in future years – genuine introspection, the testing and weighing of different points of view, and the open and honest sharing of ideas.

You guys know that I’m pretty sentimental, so I’d like you to compose a sort of “farewell blog” for your very last post.  I think it’s always powerful for us to do some true introspection and try to articulate our thoughts and feelings at big moments in our lives – I kind of wish all of you got to give graduation speeches and have that chance to share your hearts with your class!  And with all the craziness of quarantine and COVID-19 this year, I think that this opportunity has the potential to be even more powerful for you, if you take it seriously.

It always seems quite fitting to me, since your first blog of the year was a reflection on your senior year, for you to actually go back and read that blog, and reflect once again.  Think about these questions. Have you gained any greater insights about what ICS or this final year has meant to you now that your time here is coming to a close?  What do you think you’ll remember most about this year, about this place, about this community, or even about your World Literature class☺?  Do you have any final “farewell thoughts” for me or your classmates as you go?

Also – we will also have one final extended time together as a class (hopefully our final testing block on May 13).  During this time, I’ll actually ask you to share these blogs with the class!  So, be ready for that 🙂