Friday, August 9th, 2024
South Lake Tahoe, CA → South Lake Tahoe, CA
0 mi, 0 ft elevation
Yesterday was a rough ride for me. My first flat tire (which I did not have the equipment to fix… oops) and a very long ride meant I was biking into nightfall with a dead back light (another oops) on a road with basically no shoulder. So, I called the team to pick me up 15 miles out of Tahoe.
When you spend so much time biking, it’s hard to distinguish yourself from the bike. It hurt me that I wasn’t able to finish the ride, but my safety was so much more important. Today reminded me that, while the moments biking and being on the road have their own importance, what you get to do and the people you meet at your destination are truly special. And our destination for the next few days was Lake Tahoe and the Lake Tahoe Boys and Girls Club. The Lake Tahoe STEM academy, which operates within the Boys and Girls Club, was founded by David, an MIT alum. Today, we would be working with David to host some of our workshops and meet the high school robotics team who were in the height of building and testing boats they had been working on throughout the summer.
So, we donned our blue learning festival shirts for the last time and biked to the Boys and Girls Club.
As we entered and toured the building, I was struck by just how welcoming and familial this community felt. It seemed like all the kids and teachers knew each other, from siblings to pets. David and a few teachers even called us over to the field behind the building to witness another frequent STEM academy visitor, a baby black bear (my first time seeing one)!
Curiosity fulfilled, I returned indoors to the fourth graders I was about to teach. I struggle to remember names, especially when teaching, so I made it my goal today to make sure I was able to remember every student’s name and a little bit about them. I think that, alongside the small group size, made this final iteration of strawberry DNA so memorable. I was also, once again, reminded of my old age when a few students were shocked to learn I was turning 23 soon (they thought I was 18) and when one kid randomly wrote “Ohio rizz” on the whiteboard and told me not to Google it “for my own good” after I asked him what it meant. I Googled it and I’m still confused, so if anyone understands please send help.
After lunch, we trekked down to the lake to meet the high schoolers, who were testing their boats with David.
One of their creations, which they were troubleshooting, was a motor attached to a paddleboard. It was inspiring to see the group’s passion and teamwork as they ideated different solutions.
After learning a little bit more about their projects, we said goodbye to the students, packed up our learning festival supplies for the last time, and biked to our campsite for the night. Of course, we also stopped for ice cream and coffee along the way in true Spokes fashion. We unwinded for the night as screenagers, reveling in the rare luxury of a campsite with cell service.
For dinner, Rebecca, Sophia and Hank cooked up some amazing sushi rice bowls. As we ate, we continued our way through the 36 questions. Today, we talked about our families and our relationships with our mothers.
At this point in the trip, I’ve spent well over 1500 hours with this group of people (if you count hours spent sleeping, which I do, because we’re normally not more than 20 feet apart even when asleep). Still, I’m learning so much about them every day and I keep wanting to learn more. We’ve been there for each others’ highs and lows and, like Sophia said way back in the Midwest after a conversation with her mother, we are the only ones who fully understand what we’re going through right now. When the trip is over and we go our separate ways, I am content knowing that we’ll always have this summer (totally not a Jenny Han reference…).
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