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Avery H: Day 5, Vermont ~ NBTSC 2024

Wow it was cold last night, it was lovely. Hi my name’s Avery, it’s my 5th session here at nbtsc. Today I woke up a bit late to the sound of a chipmunk rustling through one of my bunkmates bags, he must have a snack or something stashed… Oh no! I realized there was only about 15 minutes left until breakfast was over so I ran down as fast as I could, ITS PANCAKES. Heck yes, my day is already going fantastically. It’s time for check-in and meeting, we had two birthdays today and for their birthday wish they asked if we could build them a fort they could be the king & queen of. After meeting I went to a workshop ran by Christian “Freak folk music.” I love folk music but this workshop introduced me to a whole new subgenre that I absolutely love, we really just talked about the music the whole time it was awesome.

 

During lunch I went to a scheduled discussion about college and also alternatives to it; why people think it’s the default and when it makes sense vs doesn’t make sense for individuals. Ben and Genevieve of Learning and Liberation ran that discussion and after lunch was officially over and siesta began I had a really nice conversation with the two of them. They’re currently making a documentary about unschooling and alternative education that I’m super excited for. They had to get going to do some interviews with other campers. I looked over to the field and saw a group gathering milkcrates to build the fort for the birthday duo, so naturally I ran over and started helping them build it. With a milkcrate foundation, mattress roof and a bench-made fenced backyard it was truly the homey-ist fort I had ever seen.

 

It had been quite sunny so far today but It came to an end when the clouds rolled in and it started drizzling. It was pretty cold too so I made my way into the cozy-lodge where staffers Sydney and Larkin had made a fire in the fireplace. I warmed up for a few minutes as the next workshop “How to start an artist-collective” started to gather by the fireplace. We started by going around in a circle giving a brief explanation of our relationship to art in general but we got sort of cut off as we realized there was another workshop going on just above us in the library above the fireplace, so we decided it would be fun to do the workshop in the birthday fort. I should have mentioned the birthday Queen is my advisor Aubrie. She’s also running this workshop I’m currently attending so it was quite fitting that our small group squished into this tiny fort, miraculously we all fit inside! It was an awesome vibe, talking about art with a light drizzle of rain around us.

 

Then it was time for dinner we had ramen! It was so delicious. After dinner and evening meeting I talked with Ben and Genevieve plus a few others just outside the lodge about alternative schools and documentaries that talk about alt-ed schools. The whole time we talked the other campers did a conga line type thing? But they were making train sounds and marching around, it was pretty awesome to witness. Finally the bell rings which means its time for the event I’ve been looking forward to all day, Trust circle. It’s a mostly silent event where statements are read aloud by a staffer and if you feel like identifying with the statement you step into the circle. It’s usually a pretty emotional event for me, this time I was more concerned with comforting my friends that were feeling emotions. I hung around the lodge for a bit afterwards, but I got tired pretty quickly so I decided to head to bed. On the way to my cabin I looked up and omg the stars were beautiful. 

 

Avery, Camper

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