To Nepal and Back

My journey to the AMI training must have started the first day my mom dropped me off at Whole Child Montessori. It was just shy of my third birthday. That first day I probably cried. The second, I walked straight to class without looking back.

I've always held on to very vivid memories of my primary years at Whole Child. While much of life has whizzed by me, my memories of preschool float peacefully, like the white mushroom clouds outside my window after days of rain. They don't intrude, but rest as friendly reminders of my roots. Yes, my roots. Normally I think of my roots as my great-grandmother who immigrated from Ireland or the cemetery in Page, North Dakota where my relatives are buried. But right now my roots are what keep me grounded. What feed my hungry soul. Right now those roots are my memories of Montessori.

I have lots of them. From the ages of nearly three until fourteen Montessori was the only education I really knew. But still I stress the clarity of my memories from my primary (3-6) years. In my application essay to Montessori Institute NW (where I will be attending in the fall) I discussed this very topic:

"I close my eyes. Quickly my Montessori classroom renders itself in my mind. Every time, I’m amazed at the details I unearth: the memories and feelings. I remember my devastation when the porcelain horse I brought for Show and Tell broke it leg. The joy when I zipped, buttoned and tied the wooden frames. My amazement when my teacher sucked the water out of our fish tank to clean it. But mostly I remember a clear sense of myself attending primary in an environment that nurtured a passion for learning through exploration and experience.

Through these memories I have come to understand the skills and personal qualities Montessori has helped me develop throughout my life; and it is these same memories that draw me back to Montessori now, back to the point where I embarked on my biggest adventure: a life of learning."

Recently I found this photo while cleaning out (purging more accurately). See, I just returned home. Home from Nepal. While Nepal features prominently in my return home to Montessori, I'll leave the explanation of its significance to another day. Back to the photo: the image exemplifies my point. This is what I remember. Only through an inner calm and confidence in myself could I achieve this state of concentration. At age three or four I wanted order and created it wherever I could. From a box of several hundred multicolored beads I chose one color to place in a line. Now, twenty some odd years later I would do anything to be able to sort, order or organize the piles of stuff currently creating islands around my room. Chaos became a resident in my life long ago and I have long been searching for that calm eye inside the twirling storm. Finally I (re)found something: Montessori.

With my decision to attend MINW this fall and pursue my Masters in Montessori Primary Education at Loyola MD, I am going back to my roots; revisiting those memories to unlock their forgotten lessons. Ultimately I will harvest new meaning and sprout deeper roots, anchoring me more firmly when the winds of life again blow.

Stay Tuned....