Board Member and TTS Alumni Parent Greets You!

Greetings to all!

I'd like to introduce myself to you all.  I have the great fortune of being an alumni parent to three Traveling School girls, each daughter with two semesters of TTS!  You can imagine how hard it is to carry on without another TTS semester in the future, so now I enjoy supporting TTS as a member of the Board of Directors.

I've been re-living the adventurous bliss of my own daughters' TTS experiences while browsing through these blogs and have to admit it brings tears to my eyes.   I love hearing how the girls are studying amongst the zebras...visiting the farm that they read about in their literature...eating the wonderful food ...sleeping under the African stars.  I also recall the phone calls that didn't seem to be quite often enough and my anticipation of how my girls would return and what changes that I might see in them.  And I smile, remembering how the photos, at first sparse and then, more abundant...took my breath away.  I know that Robert would like *more* photos...I always did!

I well remember the yearning to  talk with my girls and waiting for the phone calls. Those short talks were like jewels to be treasured and I remember when my oldest daughter, Erin, called for the first time, my husband and I almost had a fist fight trying to secure that telephone!  Although she denies it now, she had a few moments of home sickness--I could tell.  As the first semester for my youngest daughter, Ali, progressed, I mentioned to second oldest, Rachael,  that the phone calls seemed to be getting less and less since Erin's first semester.  Rachael smiled and said, "Mom...when I had the opportunity to call...there was the alternate opportunity to explore.  What do you think I wanted to do...?"  I wanted to talk with Ali, but I laughed and took comfort in knowing that she felt secure enough to forgo the phone call and soak in her surroundings.  All my girls were different and all seemed to find their own inner resources.  I think the hardest part for me, was allowing them to draw on those resources and take flight.

Truly, nothing has impacted our daughters lives more than their semester of hands-on learning with TTS.  It's wonderful to be able to continue to support TTS as a board member and I would like to extend the invitation to use me as a resource as the semester progresses, should you desire an experienced, parent's eye view.  Ask me questions here or email me at:   laurab@imt.net

I'd love to hear from you!

Laura Johnson
Bozeman, MT