We are so excited that Fall ’14 is underway! It’s been a busy first week: working on the farm (over 530 lbs of broccoli harvested on Monday, for example), starting classes, getting to know dormmates, trying to avoid signing up for a first humble, learning how to work the Hobart dishwasher, and of course trying to remember everyone’s name. As the Fall ’14 students settle into their new home and routine, they’ve already identified some classic Mountain School struggles, or what we’re calling #tmsprobs. Graduates, can you think of a few of your own?
When I’m harvesting with my Spanish teacher and wonder whether to speak to her in Spanish or English… #tmsprobs
When I forget my flashlight and have to walk back to the dorm at 9:25 pm in the dark and it’s too cloudy to see the stars… #tmsprobs
When the notes written in my desk drawer from 8 years ago are too faded to read… #tmsprobs
When I somehow lose my cloth napkin and have to wait a week to get a new one… #tmsprobs
When I get woken up by cows mooing outside my dorm at 5 am… #tmsprobs
When I don’t get woken up by cows in the morning because they’ve been slaughtered… #tmsprobs
When I’m in my dorm and I can hear literally everything the people in the next room are saying because the walls are so thin… #tmsprobs
When I try to shake out some Boraxo and end up with a giant mound in my hands… #tmsprobs
(Update: problem solved. Shout out to Annie for drilling a hole in the top of each Boraxo bottle so that not too much soap comes out at once).
When I can’t fit all the food that I want to eat onto my plate… #tmsprobs
When I want to listen music in the Harvest Kitchen and there are only three stations to choose from, and two play country music… #tmsprobs
When all I want is to go for a run, but I’m still not allowed to go on the Inner Loop alone… #tmsprobs
When I forget my gloves for work period and have to run all the way back to the dorm… #tmsprobs
When there are crickets chirping in the library and/or your bedroom at night… #tmsprobs
When I can’t sit down in class because my legs are too sore from wood-splitting squats… #tmsprobs
When I try to dump the mop water in the trough and end up spilling it all over my pants and feet… #tmsprobs
When I spend 30 seconds trying to find the flush lever on a composting toilet… #tmsprobs
When I don’t know whether to wear pants or shorts in the morning because I don’t know what my work period will be… #tmsprobs
(Inspired by Tobold F’14)
The Mountain School 