How Far We've Come

Chapter 2

The days passed quickly, and the workload was light. I spent less than an hour each day doing homework and often texted my friend on the way home from school. The twenty minute bus ride was less than fascinating after I experienced it every morning and afternoon. While the warm colors of the fall trees surrounded me in a canopy on the quiet school bus, I listened to loud, energetic music and texted a close friend of mine.

Her name was Vanessa and we had been friends since the seventh grade. She was the one I missed the most when choosing Prestwall over Southeast, and I called and texted her every day. We managed to maintain a close friendship, despite the distance. After a few weeks of everyday texts, I began telling her about Justin's Ferry.

"We have our first field trip next week!" I exclaimed. "It's to Justin's Ferry."

Vanessa smiled, or rather sent me a smiling emoji, "Sounds awesome! Where is that again?"

I laughed. "It's a small trail near a canal that leads down to an historical village. We're hiking up the trail and back down... I think it's eight miles round trip."

"Wow," she commented. "You think you'll be able to hike that much?"

I shrugged. "It's not like I have a choice," I reasoned. "Anyway, after that, we're going into the town and apparently we get to wander a while and do this activity. Then, we'll drive over to the campsite."

"Neat. What are you doing in the campsite?"

I thought about it for a moment. They hadn't told us much about what we actually going to do there, but they had told us one thing. "We're doing some service activity." I groaned at the thought of planting trees and pulling weeds for a few hours.

Vanessa winced. "Hope you can get out of that one! Anyway, I have to get going. Talk to you later?"

"Bye!"

The next day, the teachers gave us a list of what to bring on the field trip. The list was long and contained various items that I was rather surprised were on there. After we scanned the list, Mr. Rickman began explaining why certain items were on the list.

"As students in Global Ecology, one of our mottos is to always be prepared," he started.

A boy, I think his name was Cornell, raised his hand and interrupted: "I thought our motto was 'We Are The Water Buffalo'..."

Mr. Rickman sighed, "That's what I mean by one of our mottos. There are many, including the one you just stated."

Cornell sighed, defeated. Shaking his head, Mr. Rickman continued. "Anyway, that is why there are so many out of place items on the list. We need to be prepared for rain or shine, coldness or warmth. We need to be ready for whatever nature throws at us.

"Which leads me to our next item. We will need to assemble tents at Justin's Ferry and to do that, you will need to learn how to assemble tents. So, we will have a workshop tomorrow at lunch to teach you how to do that. We need at least five people, but more are welcome.

"Also, here are your group lists for the trip. Group A will be going on the 12th and 13th while Group B will be going on the 18th and 19th."

He took two copies of the lists and passed them to opposite sides of the tables.

My palms sweat as I realized that these were the people I was going to spend two days without... and without my parents for the first time! But, I did not have to wait for long, as I was at the front of the classroom. Less than a moment after Mr. Rickman had finished his sentence, Jessica passed me the paper, a wide grin on her face.

Not knowing what to expect, I scanned the list. In Group A, my eyes passed various names I could only match to faces because of Mr. Galdalf's "name game" until I landed on one I recognized.

Lina Barel

I smiled. Now, if I was in group A, I knew I would have a friend there! But, as I looked down the rest of the list, I could not spot my name. Knowing exactly what was coming, my eyes shifted to Group B.

I looked down the list. Right at the top was my name, listed in beautiful Calibri print.

Anasika Grandle

I smiled, hoping Clary and Jessica were also in my group. But I need not have worried because the next two names I noticed were right underneath each other.

Clarissa Johnson

Jessica Kim

I gave a sheepish grin, now knowing why Jessica was smiling so much. I myself was smiling as all my worries for the Justin's Ferry trip faded away. A smile still on my face, I handed the page to the person sitting next to me.

Since, I was in group B, my trip wasn't for two weeks, but the excitement kept building. This was my first Global field trip, and I had high expectations. But, excitement always comes with nervousness and I couldn't help feeling a little nervous about what was in store for me.

Time passed far too quickly for my liking and suddenly it was October 17th. I had packed all my bags and gone in for lunch to practice putting up my tent. It was difficult at first, but with the help of my friends, I managed it.

That night, I lay in bed wondering what would happen at Justin's Ferry. A million worries plagued me as I stared up at my starry ceiling. What if Clary, Jessica, and I were in different tents? What if I was so slow that my group left me behind while hiking? Sports were never my strong suit. What if there was no vegetarian food for me to eat and I starved? I had never tasted meat in my life, as a part of my religion, and I wasn't planning to. What if, what if, what if?

After pushing worries out of my mind, just to fill it with new ones, for about an hour, I realized I couldn't sleep. Pushing my creaking door closed, I turned on the lights and walked over to my bookshelf. I squinted at it for a few moments, my eyes adjusting to the dark. Finally, I picked out a book, a part of a series which would have a new release soon, and read my worries away.

After what felt like five minutes of sleeping, my head shot up in response to the screeching alarm that was going off at the other end of the room. I rubbed my eyes open and turned the alarm off, turning off the lights that had been on all night, and began to get ready.

After stuffing my face with as much breakfast as I could, I grabbed my hiking bag and got ready to jump into the car, when I felt like something was missing. I racked my brains, wondering what it could be, when I realized. I had forgotten my Global Journal.

I dashed inside the car, nearly bumping into my dad who was carrying the duffel bag and sleeping bag I needed for the overnight trip. Running upstairs as fast as I could, I pulled the brand new book out of my bookshelf and ran into the car.

When we reached the school, my dad and I carried the numerous bags to the parking lot where other students were waiting for the bus. Giving him a big hug bye, I set down my bags and turned to my friends. Clary had a small backpack and a duffel bag, which she swore had a sleeping bag in it, but I couldn't see it. Jessica had a backpack around the same size as mine, a duffel bag, and a large sleeping bag.

The orangish-yellow school bus pulled in with Mr. Cardinal driving it. I had met him during tent training and found him to be as kind and funny as the rest of the Global teachers. His only flaw was his use of plaid shirts.

I pulled my bags towards the bus, one by one, my hands trembling. I took a deep breath as Clary gave me a reassuring smile. This was going to be fun, wasn't it? I put down my nervousness to this being the first overnight trip I had been to without my parents and loaded the bag onto the bus. Then, I walked into line.

The line was long, but too soon, I was in front of the tall glass doors. Their bright yellow borders and black rubber seemed looming as ever in my current situation. But this was a Global trip and these people were practically family. Sure, this was my first trip without my parents, but it was a pretty good one for a first. I smiled, not ready to have my nervousness take over on this once in a lifetime opportunity. Taking another deep breath I put my foot on the first step. I was ready for my first Global Ecology field trip.