6 February 2017 On being a student again

I have been in Fairbanks for only a short time - two full days - but I feel like I have seen and learned a lot already. I know what -20˚C feels like on my face. I've heard the snow squeaking under my the enormous arctic boots I have borrowed. I've seen the sun rise and set on the same side of the building due to the season and latitude.

I've also spent the last two days mostly seated, taking notes and listening to talks on several topics, given by many different presenters. It has been very informative, but also very tiring. As a teacher, I often forget how it feels to be the student and to sit on the other side of the table. Being a student is both exhilarating and exhausting. I'm hearing so many wonderful things all the time, but it is hard to sit all day and to focus for so long, no matter how interested you are.

The 2017-2018 PolarTREC teachers at their first day of orientation training.

I listened to inspiring talks on the Arctic by Dr. Katrin Iken and on the Antarctic by Dr. Kristin O'Brien, scientists from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I have also met the other nine teachers who were selected to work with PolarTREC this year, and they are an amazing group, each of them from different schools and backgrounds, but all very passionate to learn more and to be better science teachers for their students.

The PolarTREC team has also been great to work with. They are explaining my program responsibilities, giving me great support already, and teaching me the technological skills I'll need to share my experience working in the Arctic. Being a PolarTREC teacher is going to be hard work and a lot to live up to, but I feel that I will have the support of an amazing team of people dedicated to making my time in the field a success so that I can share my experiences and what I learn easily.

PolarTREC teachers Adeena Teres, Steve Kirsche, Rebecca Harris and Jennifer Baldacci learning how to add photos to their journals.

Overall, I am quite happy to be a student again this week. Except for the homework. But without the homework, it would be hard to reinforce the tech skills I am learning. And so I'll do the homework, happily.