Payton's Potatoes

Monday started earlier than most of my mornings here, I had set my alarm for 6 in order to get some time to work on my speech, having given myself a break the night before.

I crept around the room trying not wake up Caroline and silently began to transfer my speech to note cards, trying my best to internalize the words as I scribbled them down.

Time flew by, and before I knew it, we were once again sitting in the plush red chairs of our classroom. We were given additional time to work on our speeches in the morning, and with our speeches starting the next day, and the dreaded sign up for speech times began. 

Once we arrived back from lunch, Dr. Koch decided that the best course of action was to draw names from a hat to overcome the nerves that kept many of us from volunteering for the first day. I had already written my name down for Tuesday and so I had nothing to fear, but the anticipation in the room was palpable. The rest of class passed with more discussions and a more time spent reciting our speeches to the hallway walls. 

The hallway where we practiced

After class, we had some free time, which despite promising myself I would spend on my speech, at least half was spent playing cards with Ana and Hawi, along with catching up about our classes. We also spent some of the time rushing to the place where sign-ups for our evening activities would be taking place, people at VSA do not mess around, and despite showing up a half hour early, we were not the first ones there.

Before long, dinner had arrived, and while Ana, Hawi and I had gotten the activities we wanted, Anna partook in some quick gymnastics to sort out a snafu in hers. 

The activity had everyone assume a role complete with some information they could share, and a secret that they were meant to keep private as long as it strategically benefited them. One person was assigned to be the murderer (none of us, unfortunately) and the rest of us engaged in conversations with one another to try and figure out who the evil-doer was. 

In the end, myself and a group of people did figure who the murderer was, how they did it and why, and although we were not the first group, it still came with an immense amount of satisfaction. 

We finished off the evening with an always wonderful Proctor Group Meeting and I went to sleep dreaming of the words I would be reciting the next day. 

Today was much harder to start than yesterday, I had grand intentions of waking up waking up early again, but the nerves, or the warm bedding, or something else kept me hitting the snooze button. 

The morning passed in a blur for me, full of breakfast, speeches, rebuttals, (one of which I did) and a healthy heaping portion of nerves, as I would be speaking right after lunch. 

On the way back from lunch Ana and my classmates reassured me that everything would go well, and before I knew it I was standing up in front of the class, beginning my introduction. I could not have predicted how much standing up in front of just 14 classmatescould fill me with what Dr. Koch calls communication anxiety. My hands shook, and I am sure my voice wavered, but as I went along my confidence increased, and by the end of the speech I had managed to make it on time without any major hiccups. Success! 

I listened to the rest of the speeches intently, relief had washed over my body. 

The afternoon was spent working with Julie on a top secret project for Payton (our proctor and a wonderful human). We had begun collecting materials for this project the night before, but it was time to set our plan into motion. 

We would be creating a stuffed potato pillow, complete with signatures from all of our proctor group and a sweet message. Way back on day one we had branded ourselves, "Payton's Potatoes" and the name stuck, working its way into almost all of our meetings from then on. 

Payton showing off the back side

Tonight was Proctor Group Night, so it seemed an appropriate time to present our small token of thanks to Payton, knowing how much she loves surprises and heartfelt gifts. 

We must have chosen right, because Payton was over the moon at her gift, and we were lucky enough to catch her reaction on video, involving lots of high pitched noises, hugs, and smiles so big they could light up the world. 

The front of the potato complete with her bow

My evening concluded with goofy conversations involving Payton, Julie, and Kate, and immense gratitude for being exactly where I am right now, and with the people I am with.