It has honestly been a hard past couple of days.
On Monday we presented our research. It felt amazing to be able to present them and be finished with the semester, but at the same time that meant the semester was coming to end. After the presentations, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. During that time I ran around the center getting videos of everyone for our end of the year video that Cat so graciously put together. It was so fun to see everyone recall their fondest memories and what they would miss about South. I watched my last full sunset on Monday as well because I had kitchen crew on Tuesday and missed most of the sunset, but got an awesome time-lapse to always remember it.
On Tuesday we did a center wide clean up and packed up and cleaned our rooms. This was super emotional for me, I didn’t think that I was going to cry all semester and of course while packing I did. AND Lawre walked right in on me crying…lol J. After, we had lunch and got ready for our trip to Long Cay for the day. On Long Cay, we explored and found iguanas. It is a beautiful cay that gives you an amazing view of the Caicos Bank and the Atlantic Ocean… so many different shades of blue. When I got up to the top of Long Cay, I got choked up again. This was a great way to end the semester, we all hung around reflecting and creating more memories. We left Long Cay for dinner and then had our paper plate awards. I got best photographer, which meant a lot! We then watched the videos that were made, reminiscing on our adventures of the semester. This was a great way to get us all together one more time. I wanna thank Cat for allowing me to help with the video and for doing an outstanding job on editing!!! Around 8 pm we went out one last time to our spot… Darryl’s. Almost all 33 of us in one area, eating and drinking together one last time. I will never forget that moment.
Today, I said goodbye to the dogs and left the center, which was one of the hardest things for me to do. I walked down to the dock one last time where I would be the last student to injure themselves because I slid on some mud and fell. I said goodbye to the staff and basically bawled my eyes out (I was the first student to cry as well). I got on the ferry for Provo and watched the staff and center fade as we drove away. I then got onto the bus one last time with 32 other students and Lawre. We arrived at the airport and I said goodbye to Lawre one last time. Now, at 5:00 pm, I am here on a plane, currently en route to Charlotte where I will have a connecting flight to JFK. I have just read all the notes that everyone had wrote to me and began to cry on the plane. I think about all the great memories and friends that I now have because of this experience. I can officially say that a piece of me will forever be in South Caicos and now have a second home and second family. They are all amazing people and will be greatly missed. It will be weird not waking up to the sound of the ocean and seeing 32 students and 11 staff. I can genuinely say that this was the best decision I have ever made in my entire school career.
Until next time South Caicos and SFS-CMRS. You will be missed and thanks for the amazing memories that will last a lifetime.
Signing out,
Nicole
SFS Spring ‘17
Livin' on Island Time 