Narratives 

Quarter 1 Narrative

I am taking English and Global Studies with the Pilot Program. These are classes that, in middle school, I found dull and unpleasant. I hated being stuck in an environment where half my classmates didn’t care about learning. Although I had great teachers, the classes moved slowly and covered topics I wasn’t very interested in. In English we spent much of our time on essays and expository writing. While I do sometimes enjoy that, I also wanted to practice expressive writing, and have time to work on short stories and poetry. For my English work in Pilot I am focusing mainly on creative writing; I have started a few short stories, (although I have not worked on them as much as I hoped.) as well as working on a graphic novel. I’m also planning to write a few essays pertaining to my projects. For the global studies standards History and Social Sciences I am going to do a project on folklore and fairytales from around the world. I am planning to look at the culture and history around these stories. Another topic which I wanted to dive deeper into than we were at school, is climate change and climate activism. I have started reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson to learn more about the history of pesticide use in the United States and the activism around it. I will also study the laws around the banning of DDT because of it, as part of my Civics standard. 



I am also doing PE in the pilot program, although I haven’t gotten a lot done yet. I am currently learning about injury prevention and stretches for runners. I do cross country running at school in the fall and I am planning to do track in the spring, so I am hoping I can learn techniques to help me stay healthy. A few other topics I want to study for PE are: Rock climbing, Archery, and Yoga. For math I wanted to work at my own pace, however I didn’t want to entirely teach myself, so I am taking a VTVLC Geometry course in pilot, which I’m trying to work on three bands a week. 


I started my pilot studies with a few projects that I have been working on most of this quarter. Firstly, I started looking at folklore. Both the popular classics by the Grimms brothers and Hans Christian Anderson, as well as  some less well known fairy tales from Norway and Vietnam. After reading some of these stories, I started researching archetypes in fairy tales, specifically twelve commonly known archetypes based on the work of the Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung. I am looking at how these archetypes (the Hero, the Lover, the Magician, the Sage, the Rebel, the Explorer, the Creator, the Ruler, the Innocent, the Everyman, the Caregiver and the Jester) appear in folklore and how they change and transform throughout the story. 


Understanding the characteristics of these archetypes allows one to identify them in all sorts of literature as well as in life, because even stories are based on truth and the 12 archetypes appear in both fictional characters and in human beings. As the characters go through a tale they grow and transform, representing different archetypes at different points in time. Similarly, humans change with time and new experiences. I wrote an essay about this topic, exploring how characters transform in several well known fairy tales, Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, and The Little Mermaid. Each of these stories have multiple examples of these 12 archetypes, and each story contains a character, who, throughout the story grows and transforms, moving from the innocent to the lover, or from the everyman to the ruler. Learning about these personality trends also applies to my own writing, where I can use the information to develop my own characters. Whether or not I choose to portray each character as a specific archetype, it is important to understand the roles they play. 


The project on pesticides started with an interest in bald eagles and the effects of DDT on the species. I found a few sources specifically about the birds and the decline and then recovery of their species, but I didn’t really understand them because I didn’t understand the bigger picture. I didn’t know a lot about pesticides in general. I had heard about Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, and thought that that might help me better understand the history of pesticide use. I have read almost halfway through the book, and have been taking notes on each chapter. 


Silent Spring was published in 1962, a time when pesticides were being used all over America with no thought for their consequences. However, the book had a huge impact, it educated the public on the dangers of these chemicals and eventually led to the ban of DDT. Before her book was published pesticides were widely used with very little precautions. Even some pesticides banned in other countries were being widely used. The chemicals harmed humans though sprayed food, as well as wildlife. The pesticides sprayed on fields and trees got into the soil and bodies of water, contaminating whole ecosystems. Chemicals which made their way into ponds or lakes, and accumulated in the systems of fish and birds harming many species. Worms consumed fallen leaves of sprayed trees, and when the many birds that rely on worms consumed them the pesticides entered their systems. Many birds were killed, and many were also rendered sterile, hatching no babies in the spring. I am not sure exactly how I am going to present this research, but I may write another essay on the book and on the subsequent laws around pesticide use. 



    Although I haven’t spent as much time on them as I was hoping, I have started several short stories. The first is based on a short story I wrote in the beginning of eight grade. There were a lot of things I wanted to fix about the story, so I decided to rewrite it, keeping most of the plot, but adding a few changes. The original idea for the plot was based on a series of drawings and a loose story idea that I made five years ago which I had always had the vague thought of writing down. I have the first draft, in the form of last year's short story and this year I wrote the Prologue and a few more pages. While that story I am attempting to make, if not a full length story, longer than the first draft, I also want to write a short story. The idea for this story was based on a poem I wrote last year for a writing prompt about  the word “night”. My original plan was to write it in free verse, but I am still deciding whether I still want to do that. I am also reading a book about the art of writing short stories: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, by George Saunders. I haven’t even finished the first chapter, but already it has given me a lot to think about in my own writing. I am reading this book with another pilot student (Mayla) and we will discuss it together and also work on our own short stories and give feedback on each others’ writing. This will give me a chance to collaborate that is harder to get in the pilot program.  


    I love both art and writing, and creating a graphic novel is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. My first idea was to do a graphic novel of my short stories, but the more I thought about it, the plot seemed much too long to realistically finish. I knew I wanted a shorter plot, so I turned to the fairytales I’d been reading. Although I disliked the weak female character and the ending of The Little Mermaid, I liked the idea of doing a take on the story. I wanted to keep the basic theme: mermaid falls in love with human and bargains to go on land. But I wanted to change some parts as well. In Hans Christian Anderson’s version the prince never loves the mermaid back, but I wanted to write a real love story where the affection is mutual. I planned a basic plot and then started sketching characters. I have always struggled with consistency in drawing characters,, but I feel like I got a bit better at it after practicing. I haven’t written the dialogue yet, but I started the first couple pages of illustrations. 


A huge resource throughout this has been my mentor, Sayward Schoonmaker. We meet once a week and she has been helping me with whatever my main focus has been that week. She has helped me with writing my essay, leaving comments and suggestions between our meetings and discussing ideas when we talk. Sayward has also helped me with my stories. We talked about ideas for the plots and she has left comments on the beginnings of my stories as well. I hope to work more about my art with her as well, but I have not been doing as much art as I wanted to this year. It has been so cool to talk with her and she has really helped me with my writing.  


    Another opportunity I took this fall was working with VYCC (Vermont Youth Conservation Corps). Every Thursday I’ve been working with VYCC for the first half of the school day. We started our time with trail work on a U32 trail, and then helped with the Cross Vermont Trail as well. Recently we also did tree planting with the  Winooski Natural Resources District and Friends of the Mad River. We planted several varieties of saplings along rivers, to strengthen the riparian buffer which helps with erosion water quality and habitat. I have written about what we do each week as documentation. 


    Pilot has been a new experience for me. Although I homeschooled for six years, it was much more structured than the pilot program. I wasn’t in a classroom, but I was still getting direct instructions from my parents. Such freedom in my learning is new and hard to get used to. Although I am having a much more rich and fulfilling year participating in the pilot program  than I did in middle school classes, I have been significantly more stressed. I never know if I’m doing enough or the right things.  Because there are no deadlines and no limits, it makes time management much harder. I set unrealistic goals and get even more stressed when I then don’t meet them, and while in normal classes, when you finish the class work you are done, I find myself going home and working on pilot work for most of my evening. Despite the added stress, I am really glad that I am getting the chance to be in the pilot program. The topics I am learning about are ones I actually want to study. I have always been very passionate about climate activism and I wanted to learn more about the history of climate change as well. I have loved fairy tales ever since I was a child. I adored the illustrated fairytale books that my parents would read to me, and I spent my days running about the woods looking for fairies and searching for gnome tunnels under rocks. Although I have always loved art, and spent much of my childhood squatting on the floor and drawing, I didn't discover my interest in creative writing until last year. Before then I had written a few very short stories, but in eighth grade my friends and I made a writing club and started sharing short stories with each other. Writing is like art, in that it is a way to express yourself in creative ways. While art can say things words can’t, writing lets you express ideas which you may not be able to depict in visuals. The pilot program has given me a chance to dive deeper into subjects that interest me, and to learn in a way that engages me and brings me joy. 







BIBLIOGRAPHY 


East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from The North - By Kay Nielsen - (2008) 


Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam - By Sherry Garland - (2001)  


The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales - By Maria Tatar - (2002) 


Writing 101: The 12 Literary Archetypes - MasterClass - (2021) 

The 12 Common Archetypes - By Carl Golden 

Archetypes and Mythology. Why They Matter Even More So Today - Kristina Dryza  


Spinning Straw into Gold - By Joan Gould - (2005) 


Ban of DDT and Subsequent Recovery of Reproduction in Bald Eagles - By James W. Grier - (1982) 


Silent Spring - Rachel Carson - (1962) 


A Swim in a Pond in the Rain - By George Saunders - (2021) 

I have been searching for an opportunity like the pilot program ever since coming to public school. I wasn’t happy in my classes, my grade didn’t care about learning and the things we were actually learning in class didn’t really interest me. (..............) 


 




Semester 1 Narrative

When I  walked into the building on the first day of school, I was still completely unsure how the year would unfold. After enduring 8th grade I was certain I didn’t want to spend a full school year the same way. At that point I was planning on homeschooling and coming to U32 for a few classes in the afternoon, but it was going to be really difficult for my family to figure out how to bring me to school everyday in the middle of the work day. During the summer, as I was trying to figure out a plan for the school year, I realized that the Pilot Program would fit almost all my needs and work much better for my whole family, but when I reached out, it was already full. Miraculously, a spot opened up and I was walked into the pilot room on the third day of school. I entered the first seminar without a specific idea of what I wanted to learn. During the past school year, I joined a writing club with my friends, and discovered that I really enjoy expressive writing. I knew I wanted to write a story, and I knew I wanted to incorporate art, but other than my basic interests, I was unsure how to start. I brainstormed a lot of ideas, but I still had a hard time starting.  I had always enjoyed fairy tales, so I tried to start a project about them, but while I was trying to begin I was merely reading the stories, and still had no plan for an end result.  


I hate essays. While my writing for Pilot is more enjoyable, and I am able to write about more interesting topics, I still dislike them. However, an essay is an efficient way to present learning, and an important skill to practice, so I have written two essays this semester. While I don’t like them, writing one short essay makes me feel more productive than completing the first draft of my twenty page story. Perhaps it is the fact that essays are so closely associated with traditional school, or it might be that I don’t enjoy writing them. Both these essays are on fairy tales, stories I’ve read since childhood, and a topic I have always been interested in. I have been reading about folklore in general throughout the semester, but these essays were on topics I researched more. 


My first project to be finished was my essay, (“Archetypes in Fairy Tales”)  I started by researching the twelve commonly known archetypes based on the work of the Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung (the Hero, the Lover, the Magician, the Sage, the Rebel, the Explorer, the Creator, the Ruler, the Innocent, the Everyman, the Caregiver and the Jester). After getting a sense of the characteristics, I searched a few books of fairy tales to identify the archetypes embodied by their characters. My essay looked at three well known fairy tales (Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, and The Little Mermaid) and how the archetypes representing the characters change over the course of the story. 


After meeting with my Global Studies content advisor, I began a project on Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, and their fairy tales. I began with researching the Grimm brothers and their lives, for the historical aspect of the project,  but in my essay, ("The Grimm Brothers and their Fairy Tales”) I wanted to explore the effect of Disney’s film adaptations of their tales as well. In some ways The Grimm brothers and the movies based on their stories helped to preserve the folklore of Germany which might otherwise have been lost, but the fairy tales, and especially disney’s version of them reinforced sexist stereotypes, of weak and helpless heroines.


I began reading Silent Spring, by Raechel Carson, during the first quarter, to learn about the history of pesticide use in the United States. However I never finished the book, I got distracted by other projects and never made much progress with this one, but I do want to finish the book this next semester, as well as learn about pesticides today. 


“Write a novel” was my goal at the beginning of the school year, but I quickly realized that was too lofty a goal taking into consideration the rest of the stuff I had to get done. I had begun to revise a short story that I had written in eighth grade, with the goal to turn it into a book. At the same time I started a short story, inspired by a poem written also in eighth grade. But during the majority of the first quarter, both stories remained mostly stagnant. I worked on them occasionally but with little motivation. I spent my pilot time on other projects, because the fact that I enjoy creative writing makes it feel much less fulfilling. I avoided doing the things I love, because  they didn’t feel like valid work. I wrote a bit during the first quarter but definitely not as much as I was hoping. 


My attempt at rewriting my old story dissolved, as many of my writing projects do, but I have continued to work on my short story, Night (this is a working title). My original plan was to write in free verse, but contrary to my expectations, it actually constrained my writing, I was trying so hard to sound poetic, that I was avoiding the characters thoughts and feelings, and sticking to lyrical descriptions. I did enjoy writing like that, but I didn’t feel that I could write a full story in that style. I got about 1000 words in before deciding to write in pros. I started by reformatting what I already had in free verse, but trying to translate it gave that whole section a jerky unnatural rhythm (This is something I will work on when editing.)  Normally I struggle with drafts. I try to perfect everything as I write, which burns out all my inspiration and energy. When this happens I generally end up giving up on my idea, bored and tired by the story. This time I feel that I have definitely improved. I am much more comfortable with writing a messy draft first and editing later, both in my short story and in my essays. I don’t reread my work or even fix typos now, I just write. This, I think, was the reason I was able to finish the first draft of Night. While I did “finish” the draft, there are multiple places that, even before reading through, I know I need to change. The whole first half needs work, there are many sections that, thinking back, are unnecessary, or drawn out. There are places, too, that I need to add scenes pertaining to ideas added later in the story. I would like to completely rewrite the prologue. It didn’t make sense, and in addition to that, there are connections to later events that could be added in the beginning. Even when I have a list of the coming events, the act of writing it will add twists and new ideas. Oftentimes the story will carry me along to events that I hadn’t even thought about. The life of the story is the funnest part, and generally I don’t plan out my plot, only working with a beginning, an end, and some vague ideas. The characters and world sweeping you sling through the story is the part I really love about writing, sometimes things happen that surprise even myself. 


My friend and fellow pilot student, Mayla, have shared our writing in the past, and we wanted to collaborate in Pilot. Together, we read A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,  by George Saunders, together. This book was about writing, specifically short stories, and it has given us a lot of valuable insight on the art of writing. The book presented  George Saunders’s ideas in the form of essays on seven short stories by Russian authors. He discussed the stories, as well as thoughts on writing in general. Mayla and I read a chapter each week, before meeting to discuss ideas on the chapter, as well as our own writing projects, (Mayla is also working on a story.) 


The majority of the ideas I am getting from reading A Swim in a Pond in the Rain I will use once I begin my editing process, but even as I was writing the draft, I was thinking more about the relevance of events to the meaning of the story, omens, and repetition. After reading the book, I noticed a tendency in myself to add scenes or descriptions purely because I feel like it, or I want to write “The pinks and golds and fiery reds of sunset”, but George Suanders encouraged me to actually think about weather the additions were important or meaningful to the story. I haven’t begun the editing process yet, but the book mentions revision as well, to read and reread, changing, or not changing sentences or paragraphs, until the story feels right. This was my first book about the process of writing, and reading it gave me so much to think about in my work. Collaborating with Mayla was also a valuable part of this project, as Pilot offers very few opportunities for group work. Our discussion forced me to be accountable and read each week, even when I didn’t feel like it, and talking with her gave me new ideas and perspectives. During the second semester we are hoping to work together again, reading Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. 

 

I have wanted to write a graphic novel for many years, and finally, this year I started one. My first idea was to rewrite one of my own stories in drawn form, but I quickly realized that the plot was far too long. So I turned to the fairy tales I had been reading.  Although I disliked the weak female character and the ending of The Little Mermaid, I wanted to write a take on the story. I planned out a basic plot, and (very) loosely sketched out the first 15 pages. The main problem holding me back when I had thought about making a graphic novel in the past, was the characters. I have never been very good at likenesses, I worried that I would not be able to consistently draw a character. However, I practiced my characters a bit, and while they do not look exactly the same, I think they are recognizable. While I didn’t have the whole plot planned out, I wanted to begin drawing the actual pages before I lost all my motivation. I finished the first 4 pages, but they took much longer than I was hoping. Although I tried to work on the pages every week, I had been focusing my energy on Night and other projects and The Little Mermaid has been moving very slowly. I will try to shorten my plot, and I may be able to devote more time to working on my graphic novel during the second semester, but I most likely will not finish it this school year.  


A huge resource throughout this has been my mentor, Sayward Schoonmaker. We meet once a week for an hour, and we discuss whatever my main focus has been that week. She has helped me with writing essays, as well as my graphic novel and short story, leaving comments and suggestions between our meetings and discussing ideas when we talk. It has been really helpful to talk with her, and she has given me a lot of great feedback on my work.


Another opportunity I took this fall was working with VYCC (Vermont Youth Conservation Corps). Every Thursday I  worked with our two leaders, and a group of other students  for the first half of the school day (Full days were also an option and there were a few days that I participated in both the morning and and afternoon sessions). We started our time with trail work maintaining one of U32’s trails. After that, we helped with the Cross Vermont Trail, working on building a bridge, adding a retaining wall at the base of a railing, and hauling pipes to their locations on the trail. We also planted saplings with the  Winooski Natural Resources District and Friends of the Mad River. We planted several varieties of trees along rivers, to strengthen the riparian buffer which helps with erosion water quality and habitat. While my work with VYCC didn’t end up counting towards any of my science standards, as I had hoped it would, it was a really great experience, and I learned a lot about trail building and conservation, as well as getting to spend time outdoors!


I am taking PE with the Pilot program. During the first quarter and part of the second, I was part of U32’s cross country team. I ran five days a week and raced most Saturdays, and in addition to running, I have tried to learn more about injury prevention for runners. Injury is a risk when running so much, and I want to learn how to stay healthy during the sports season. Currently I have been trying to get outside and ski. There are trails all around my home, so it is easy for me to ski. However I started theater, and I get home after dark, so I may have to ski mainly on the weekends.  The musical we are performing includes a lot of dance and movement, so perhaps I can incorporate that into my PE work. My VYCC time might also relate, because we were actively working. 


For math I wanted to work at my own pace, I am taking a VTVLC (Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative.) Geometry course in pilot, which I’m trying to work on three bands a week. Math has been hard to fit into my pilot work. On busy weeks it is easy to take a band to write an essay instead of working on geometry, but when I get behind it is hard to catch up again. I am still trying to figure out a schedule that will work well for me. 


Although I am taking an art class in school, I have always loved art, and wanted to incorporate it into my pilot work. The art that I have made has been worked on mostly at home, but I have been trying to make space at school to continue artistic projects. When VYCC ended (in mid November) I planned to use my Thursday pilot bands for art. I tried this several times with moderate success. One challenge was bringing my art materials to school, I keep my art supplies at home, so it was hard to transport everything to school in my backpack. The few days that worked well were definitely good, I got a chance to unwind and let my brain rest for a day. But anytime there is “real work” I have to do, it is so easy to put my art aside. It is hard to prioritize painting or drawing, when I don’t even need the standards. I am still hoping I can find a way to bring art into my school day, but I may need to experiment more with how to do that. 


When I began in pilot, I was very uncomfortable teaching myself. Although I had homeschooled in the past, it was always very structured and I still had a teacher presenting me with the work I had to do. Pilot was drastically different then anything I’d done before, and I had no idea how to actually teach myself. Starting out I wasn’t really sure where I was going with most of my projects. I didn’t have a specific idea of what I wanted to learn or how I wanted to present it as a final product. I started a few short stories but I rarely worked on them in class. Instead I tried to find complicated sources and write essays. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone and doing work I don’t necessarily enjoy is definitely important, but not at the expense of the things that I actually love. Creative writing was one of my main interests, and something I wanted to do in pilot, but I was working even less on my stories than I used to. When I finally started prioritizing them I felt so much happier. And even though I enjoy writing I was still able to push myself by setting goals and deadlines. My essay writing, I feel has improved as well. I have always struggled with research. I didn’t feel comfortable finding sources, and while I still have a hard time with it, I think I have become more willing to look for many different sources and more confident with the essay format in general. 


“Stress” pretty much defines my first quarter in Pilot. Occasionally it was healthy stress that motivated me to get things done, but generally I remained unproductive. I would set loose goals that in retrospect were almost unachievable at that point. When I didn’t meet these goals I came home and spent my evenings trying to get more done, which also was somewhat unproductive. The hardest part of Pilot, and also the incredible opportunity you get, is the chance to be your own teacher. I am the one finding the sources, making the plan, setting the deadlines, and giving assignments, while also doing the work. In a classroom setting, when I finish the work assigned, I can take a break, but in Pilot, I can always do more, or I didn’t do enough, but there is no one to tell me which. However, the more time that I spent in Pilot, the more comfortable I have become with it. 


Recently I began making myself checklists for the week. I set small achievable goals, and generally I am able to complete  the majority of them. This has helped with my stress quite a bit. Finishing a goal, and crossing it out, gives me a sense of completion and achievement, and the list shows me what I have finished as well. Of course my gails are flexible and it’s not uncommon that I will add or remove a task as the week goes on, but it still gives me a sense of structure. I write my goals on Monday morning and the remainder of the week I spend completing them. 

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Despite any of the stress I’ve felt over the past months, I am so grateful that I got the chance to be in the Pilot program. Actually learning to teach myself is infinitely more valuable than the things I could learn in a traditional classroom. Pilot will give me the skills to teach myself in and outside of school, and for the rest of my life as well. While there are certainly projects that I am working on primarily to get my content standards, there are many times that it doesn;t feel like work any more. I am working on projects that I would do anyway, for the joy they bring me. Pilot has given me the chance to create art and write during the school day, which last year I could only do hiding my notebook under the desk, bored in my classes. It is such a profound difference, last year I waited the whole school day to go home and have the freedom to do what I wanted. This year I stayed up late into the night, typing in my story, and when I finally  finished the first draft, at 11:30 at night, I stayed crouched in my bed, haunted by my own ending, and afraid to get up and use the bathroom. 


With the first semester ending, I have been brainstorming my next goals. Many of  projects have come to somewhat of a pausing point. My essays are finalized, the last chapter of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is complete, I finished the first draft of Night. While I wish to continue the unfinished projects of this semester, this is also the time to work off new ideas. I definitely would like to start editing my story. I have already begun to leave myself comments to fix. I have never made it past editing in past stories, but I am excited to begin to perfect my plot and writing. In the past I have always grown frustrated with my stories and given up on them before I could even start revising, but I am still motivated to work on Night, and the fact that it is an assignment will help me to stay motivated as well. Perhaps I will also start another story while I am editing? Mayla and I are planning to read Bird by Bird and in addition to reading and discussing it, we are planning to work on poetry together. We were both interested in writing and reading poetry, and more chances for collaboration is always great. At the beginning of the year I was thinking about a project on endangered species, which I would still love to do.  I am hoping to work on more art as well, and possibly a large painting.  My art is generally small, in my notebook, but it would be amazing to branch out and make a larger piece!



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BIBLIOGRAPHY 


East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from The North - By Kay Nielsen - (2008) 



Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam - By Sherry Garland - (2001)  



The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales - By Maria Tatar - (2002) 



Writing 101: The 12 Literary Archetypes - MasterClass - (2021) 

The 12 Common Archetypes - By Carl Golden 

Archetypes and Mythology. Why They Matter Even More So Today - Kristina Dryza  



Spinning Straw into Gold - By Joan Gould - (2005) 



Silent Spring - Rachel Carson - (1962) 



A Swim in a Pond in the Rain - By George Saunders - (2021) 



The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales - By Maria Tatar - (2002) 



The Full Disney Princess Timeline - Kat Whittingham - (2021) 

I used this source to find the release dates of Disney's fairy tale movies. (For The Grimm Brothers and their Fairy Tales essay)

Cultural Nationalism: The Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales - Louis L. Snyder - (1978) 

How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale - Jack Zipes - (2015)

Things Walt Disney Never Told Us - Kay Stone - (1975)

Grimm’s Fairy Tales - Wikipedia - (2023) 

Brothers Grimm - Ludwig Denecke - (2022) 



Quarter 3 Narrative

Semester 2 Narrative

SEMESTER 2 NARRATIVE


The pilot program has been such an amazing experience and I am so grateful I was able to be in  it. After hating my classes for a year, I suddenly feel excited about school again. The community was so  welcoming and supportive from the very first seminar. While we are all so different, over the course of this year I have come to feel so connected to everyone in the room.  I come into the pilot room every morning and although sometimes I feel frustrated or overwhelmed  or entirely unmotivated  I never regret choosing independent learning. 


The first project I was able to complete  was my essay, “Archetypes in Fairy Tales”.  “I started by researching the twelve commonly known archetypes based on the work of the Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung (the Hero, the Lover, the Magician, the Sage, the Rebel, the Explorer, the Creator, the Ruler, the Innocent, the Everyman, the Caregiver and the Jester). After getting a sense of the characteristics, I searched a few books of fairy tales to identify the archetypes embodied by their characters. My essay looked at three well known fairy tales (Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, and The Little Mermaid) and how the archetypes representing the characters change over the course of the story.” - (Semester 1 narrative)  This project wasn’t specifically for any standards, but before I started I had just been reading some random fairy tales with no idea for a project, and it helped me actually start working. 


After this project I continued with fairytales but this time it was specifically for my global studies work. “I began with researching the Grimm brothers and their lives, for the historical aspect of the project,  but in my essay, ("The Grimm Brothers and their Fairy Tales”) I wanted to explore the effect of Disney’s film adaptations of their tales as well. In some ways The Grimm brothers and the movies based on their stories helped to preserve the folklore of Germany which might otherwise have been lost, but the fairy tales, and especially disney’s version of them reinforced sexist stereotypes, of weak and helpless heroines.” - (Semester 1 narrative) 


I had always planned on doing some creative writing in pilot, and this came in the form of a short story finished during the second semester. While I began writing during the first quarter, it took me a while to start making progress. “My original plan was to write in free verse, but contrary to my expectations, it actually constrained my writing, I was trying so hard to sound poetic, that I was avoiding the characters' thoughts and feelings, and sticking to lyrical descriptions. I did enjoy writing like that, but I didn’t feel that I could write a full story in that style. I got about 1000 words in before deciding to write in prose. I started by reformatting what I already had in free verse, but trying to translate it gave that whole section a jerky unnatural rhythm (This is something I will work on when editing.)  Normally I struggle with drafts. I try to perfect everything as I write, which burns out all my inspiration and energy. When this happens I generally end up giving up on my idea, bored and tired by the story. This time I feel that I have definitely improved. I am much more comfortable with writing a messy draft first and editing later, both in my short story and in my essays. I don’t reread my work or even fix typos now, I just write.” - (Semester 1 narrative)  


While I was writing this story, me and my friend/fellow pilot student Mayla were reading A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, by George Saunders. His book looks at seven Russian short stories, and in analyzing them, he discusses the art of writing. I learned a lot from this book, and I’ve tried to put as much of it as I can into my writing and editing as I work on my own short story. 


“Another opportunity I took this fall was working with VYCC (Vermont Youth Conservation Corps). Every Thursday I  worked with our two leaders, and a group of other students  for the first half of the school day (Full days were also an option and there were a few days that I participated in both the morning and and afternoon sessions). We started our time with trail work maintaining one of U32’s trails. After that, we helped with the Cross Vermont Trail, working on building a bridge, adding a retaining wall at the base of a railing, and hauling pipes to their locations on the trail. We also planted saplings with the  Winooski Natural Resources District and Friends of the Mad River. We planted several varieties of trees along rivers, to strengthen the riparian buffer which helps with erosion water quality and habitat. While my work with VYCC didn’t end up counting towards any of my science standards, as I had hoped it would, it was a really great experience, and I learned a lot about trail building and conservation, as well as getting to spend time outdoors!” - (Semester 1 narrative) I learned a lot from VYCC, both about conservation work and working on a crew, and this summer I am also participating in another of their programs, MYCC. 


These were the main projects I worked on during the first semester, however I also started some small projects that ended up losing momentum. “I began reading Silent Spring, by Raechel Carson, during the first quarter, to learn about the history of pesticide use in the United States. However I never finished the book, I got distracted by other projects and never made much progress with this one, but I do want to finish the book this next semester, as well as learn about pesticides today.” - (Semester 1 narrative) I never did complete the book or the project, although I do want to finish Silent Spring for the sake of reading it. The other project I started was a graphic novel inspired by the little mermaid. While it’s still one of my goals to illustrate a graphic novel, ultimately it would’ve taken a huge chunk of my time in pilot if I were to actually complete it. 


Independent learning was entirely new to me when I started in pilot, and many parts were hard and very stressful. But by the second semester I felt much more comfortable with personalized learning, and I fell into some good rhythms with my work. 


After reading Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Mayla and I were excited to discuss other books, and experience other opinions and advice on writing. Mayla suggested Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. We read several chapters per week, before meeting, discussing and taking notes. There are not as many opportunities for collaboration in pilot, and it has been amazing to work with Mayla this year. She has kept me accountable in my reading and shared insightful ideas. While I read Bird by Bird to improve my writing, I also wanted to read fiction. In 8th grade I read a graphic novel version of The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. This year I wanted to read the original novel. It was very intense, but also a really good book, and Margaret Atwood’s writing is captivating. I did not do a project on this book, but I answered a list of questions about the book. I also enjoy reading/listening to audiobooks on my own time and have a list of everything I’ve read this year. 



This year, I wanted to work on PE outside of school. In the fall I ran cross country at school, practicing 5 days a week and racing on Saturdays. It was very intense but it also made me feel really strong. After the season ended my PE work slowed down a bit. I did some cross country skiing in the woods around my house, but not as much as I had planned to. After the winter break, the musicals started and although I was just in the ensemble we had a lot of big dance numbers. After two hour rehearsals it was definitely a workout. I didn’t want to join highschool track this spring. After cross country I wasn’t ready for another intense season, but I did want to keep running. I an=m not great at motivating myself to run by myself, it’s easy for me to just walk when I get tired if there is no one holding me accountable, so I decided to help coach middle school track.  During some practices I just participated in the same workout as the middle schoolers, but on some days I led the mid distance on runs. In addition to these activities, I also wanted to learn about injury prevention. Especially in cross country, many of my teammates got injured from overuse and were unable to run for large sections of the season.  I learned some stretches from my coaches during cross country and track, and I read some chapters of Roar, by Selene Yeager and Stacy T. Sims, as well. 


 After finishing two projects around fairy tales during the first semester, I wanted to learn about a different subject for my next global studies investigation. So I went in a completely different direction, diving into conservation in Vermont. While looking for interesting stories on species native to Vermont, I found some articles about loons. While they are currently doing pretty well, loons were endangered in the past, and this was primarily due to lead poisoning. While searching the bottom of ponds for small pebbles for their gizzards, loons would swallow lead fishing gear. The lead from just one sinker was enough to kill them. Laws banning some sizes of lead sinkers as well as the work of conservationists helped save the loons, but lead fishing gear still affects loons and other wildlife today. While learning about them, I got the chance to email questions to Vermont Fish and Wildlife who sent me to Rosalind Renfrew, a biologist who helped to protect loon nests! I didn’t want to write another essay for this project so I made a poster which I printed out and laminated. A few days ago I emailed a curtis pond comity to inquire about hanging up my poster to raise awareness about this issue. 


Riparian buffers are areas of trees, shrubs and other vegetation growing near bodies of water. The root systems of the trees stabilize the soil and absorb excess water, playing a huge role in preventing erosion. During my time with VYCC, we spent two days planting trees to strengthen these riparian zones. Ever since working on that I have thought occasionally about doing a project around riparian buffers, but the chance never really came up in my work. During the second semester I switched to pilot science with one earth science proficiency still to get. I needed to plan an experiment. My content advisor sent me a link with ideas for experiments, and while looking through them, I found an experiment on how plants affect erosion. I was able to use what I learned from VYCC and a few articles, to plan an experiment that would demonstrate on a smaller level how plants affect soil erosion. I planted mizuna and grass seeds in small foil tins, and after letting them grow I poured water over them, comparing how the erosion differed from the tins with seedlings and the ones with only soil. I have not finished this experiment but I am hoping I can complete it by the end of the school year. Getting science proficiencies through pilot is harder than other subjects, and there is a lot less room to learn in different ways. This experiment has been more stressful than I would like, but it has still been an interesting project.  


I have written poetry for the past few years. I'll go outside and write a haiku about spring, or a poem about clouds, I’ll write when I’m feeling particularly inspired or depressed or…. Poetry-ey, but they are few and far between. This year, for the first time, I committed to writing more than one or two poems, but it's hard for me to write when I'm not inspired without it turning into pretty sounding tree descriptions. However when I do have an idea, when my emotions are on the tip of my tongue, fully prepared to fall into words, I write poems easily, all i have to do is listen for the words that are already coming. I also started to edit my poems this year, and I have realized that I really enjoy it. Because the words are coming so fast as I write, I don’t feel like I have the time to play around with words and order. But when I come back and edit, I can have fun with my poems, I can arrange them in interesting unique patterns, I can shape the lines, and find new meanings. The poems I have written this year are very personal and anoy=ther struggle has been finding the right ones to share with teachers. I may love how the poem turned out, but when all my emotions are laid out on the paper I don’t want to share it with anyone else. Ultimately I have ended up with two google docs, one in my shared drive with polished poems, with words I can share with the world, and another doc, which is a total tangled  disaster of half finished sentences and broken hearts.


I finished my short story, Shadows and Starlight, during the first semester but during the second, I had to edit it. I came into the editing process much more confident than I should’ve been, thinking it would only take a few weeks. But it turned out to be much harder than I expected. While I had written several short stories before pilot, I had never tried to edit them. By the time I finished the first draft, if I finished the first draft, I was thoroughly sick of the whole story and never wanted to read it again. I had edited essays many times, but never fiction, so I didn’t really know how to start. The first third of the story was pretty problematic, it was the section I had transferred from verse to pros, and a lot of the writing felt jerky. So I started by deleting whole paragraphs and rewriting them. This felt more enjoyable because I was actually writing instead of reading through the story over and over again, but after doing this for a few weeks, I was burnt out. Rewriting took much longer than I expected and I did not want to continue like that for the whole story. So I switched my editing style. I read through paragraphs and changed the sentences that needed work. This was much faster, but it got boring and there was A LOT of procrastinating involved. While editing was very frustrating and took much longer than I had hoped, I have to remember that this is a learning experience. I was editing my creative writing for the first time and it should not be as easy as editing an essay, something that I’ve done multiple times this year. This story was somewhat of a milestone for me, not only was it my first time editing my creative writing, but it was the longest draft I have finished, and the first of my stories that I have really felt proud of. 


I couldn’t have done everything I did this year without my mentor Sayward Scoonmaker. She has been so amazing to work with and has given me such insightful feedback on all my work, from poetry to essays. Everytime I start a new project, she has sent me great resources and supported me with anything I need help on. It can’t be fun to help a highschooler sight sources, but when I needed directions for it, she was happy to work with me. She has encouraged me the whole way with Shadows and Starlight, always leaving great feedback, she has been a huge part of that story. When I started exploring poetry she sent me links to poetry, and showed me new formats. I am so grateful that I got to work with sayward this year. 


I have thought a few times about painting a mural at U32 and the chance to do this came a few weeks ago. Amy challenged us to find a new way of showing work, and I immediately wanted to paint a mural. After talking to the librarians, I sketched a few ideas and then started painting the entryway to the library. I am hoping it will brighten student’s days as they walk into the library.  


I set a lot of unrealistic expectations at the beginning of the year, and I planned a lot of projects that I never even started. However I think this was part of figuring out independent learning for myself. I ended up spending much longer on projects than I originally planned, but I think that is part of being your own teacher. It does take longer. 


“I want to study folklore and mythology from around the world, creative writing (I want to write a novel/book of short stories), and many mediums of art. I also want to learn about endangered species and Climate change. I will also do VYCC” -(learning plan) this is what I wrote in my learning plan at the very beginning of the year. My expectations were very high for my first year of independent learning, and obviously I did not get to everything, but in a way I touched on all the ideas from my initial brainstorm. While I did not write a novel and I did not write several short stories, I did write one. Similarly, I did study fairytales, but I didn’t end up learning about folklore from multiple areas of the world. I learned about loons and conservation, but I didn’t do a project around climate change as I planned. I did all my goals, just not in the way or on the scale I thought I would. I’ve noticed this in my personality as well. Outside of school I plan huge paintings that I never even start and draft novels in my head and never write further than the first few pages. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I would rather have my dreams be too big than too small. I just need to recognize this tendency in myself and in cases like learning plans, try to set more achievable goals.   


Because I had such big plans it has been disappointing to realize that I can’t do everything planned. While being in pilot has given me much more freedom, I still have to be thinking more than I want to about the proficiencies I have and the ones I still need to get. I had also hoped I’d make more art being in pilot, but it never really worked out when I tried to incorporate it into my schedule. I tried a few times to plan a day every week dedicated to painting, but I only did it a few times. But I have been able to add some art into projects. When making my poster on loons, I spent a few days working on a watercolor background. However, after the first quarter, I have done a lot of creative writing. I wrote some poems, and after editing a few of them, I like how they turned out, and although it was a frustrating and very long process, I am really proud of my finished short story.  


I am so excited that I have the opportunity to do this again next year. I don’t want to make any concrete plans and I’m sure that even if I tried to, they would change, but I have some ideas for projects I want to try. I took pottery 1 this year, and I loved working with clay. I have always loved drawing but working three-dimensionally has been so cool. My neighbor up the street is a potter and when I toured her studio she mentioned that she might be open to letting me do some sort of work trade to use her studio. I think it would be a really amazing experience to work with someone who does pottery for a living and see what that is like. I want to continue with expressive writing, hopefully writing more poetry and some short stories. It might be too big of a goal, but if I stay in pilot for three more years I might even be able to write a novel in the course of my time at U32. I would love to learn more about climate change and conservation, and continuing with folklore I want to learn about mythology from around the world. Or maybe I will try something completely different like the history of metal work! 


Documentation is a huge part of pilot. Without being in class every day our content advisors have to base most of our work solely on what we put in our folders or portfolios. I am not an organized person, my ideas are scattered, my desk is scattered…. with a bunch of papers, and books, and pencils, and sewer rat cups, and poptart wrappers, and drawings, and my jacket, and bags, and half a muffin, and also Mayla’s stuff. Essentially I am not great at documentation unless I set my mind to it. At the beginning of the year I was pretty good with my documentation folders because I was thinking a lot about it, but when I got more comfortable with pilotI started to forget about keeping track of my progress. Just last week I had to add several docs to my pilot shared drive that I had completely forgotten about. During the second and third quarter I was using checklists each week. They worked well for a little while but eventually they got messier and messier and I stopped using them. Knowing what I have done in pilot is very important, so I need to figure out the best way for me to do that. 


Similarly I was on top of my journals for a little while, but by the end of the school year I am barely writing them. That said, I have been trying to be better about writing, because when I do  journal, I feel like I am actually able to reflect on my work. This year, for the first time I really think about my work and my learning. Writing journals or narratives isn’t always fun, but the self awareness and reflection that comes from it is important. 


When I think back on my year in pilot, so much of personalized learning, at least for me, is balance. The balance between challenging myself, and working on projects I enjoy, between independent and alone, between letting go of projects that don’t feel exciting and interesting anymore, and perseverance even when it doesn’t feel fun. It’s always changing and part of being a learner is figuring these balances out. I'll never find the perfect answer, but I have started to figure it out this year and I think the more I explore personalized learning, the more I will learn about this part of myself.


I have started a few projects this year that I never finished. The effect of DDT on bald eagles would have been really interesting to learn more about, but by letting go of it for this year I was able to explore other topics that I was more excited about at the moment. Similarly, I still would love to write a graphic novel at some point, but working on it this year would have sacrificed a lot of time. However, giving up is certainly not the answer for everything. If I had stopped working on my short story all of the numerous times I didn’t feel like writing, I would never have finished editing, or even the first draft.  


When I started with the pilot I had a lot of big ideas for creative writing, I wanted to write several short stories, I wanted to make a past story into a full length novel. However, during the first quarter I barely wrote at all. I was obsessed with writing essays and reading confusing articles because the less I enjoyed something the more it felt like school work, and the more I felt like I was succeeding in pilot. And this pushed me away from the things I enjoyed, from some of the reasons I wanted to join the program in the first place, creative writing and art. But at the same time If I only do the projects I am comfortable with, the things I already know a lot about, I’m not learning. Growth flourishes from discomfort. Over the course of the year I have started to figure out this delicate balance. I wrote two essays and read dense articles, but I also finished a twenty page story, wrote poetry, and started a mural in the library. 


There will always be hard parts in independent learning, there will always be difficult balances, but I am so glad I got to join the pilot program. It  has let me see school in a whole different way this year. I have studied subjects that interest me, I have finished a story, explored poetry, worked with an amazing mentor, and been surrounded by supportive and interesting people everyday. I can not imagine going back to normal school after this experience.