It was a Wednesday evening; I had
just arrived home from school. After sitting down on the couch and grabbing
the remote, my phone began to ring. The number, not stored in my contacts, was “Unknown”. Immediately my heart began to race. The
cocoons in my stomach hatched, leaving a swarm of butterflies fluttering
inside. I knew that recipients of the National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher
Fellow Program would be notified by phone in mid-February. Questions raced
through my mind: “Who could this be?” “Could it?” “Does Nat Geo call to notify
those not selected, too?” When the voice from the other line uttered “National
Geographic”, I inched towards the very edge of the couch. What came next? It is difficult to recall. I remember being congratulated
as a 2016 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. Me, a Fellow? Miraculously I was standing in
the other room—how I got there, I am not quite sure. After a few celebratory
hoots and air pumps, I discovered that on December 17th I will be
embarking on an adventure of a lifetime—to Antarctica! For fourteen days I will
be traveling from Kentucky to Antarctica to home again. The phone called ended
as suddenly as it began. I was going to Antarctica, the end of the Earth. But for
me, the journey was only beginning.
