Antarctica Update: Discussing John Miller's Epic Letter

Over the holidays I received an extraordinary email from our USAP pen pal John Miller who is now back in the USA after many months at South Pole Station, Antarctica. (Read all about it on the Saturday, January 3, 2009 post below.) Sr. Lory and Sr. Kathleen were so moved by what John had to say that we decided to have a special class meeting to discuss his experiences in Antarctica, his philosophy, and what he said in his letter.

So, I printed out the blog post of Jan. 3 with John's email (again, see below), and our entire class read it aloud and then discussed it. This was one of the most moving classes we have ever had at our school. As you can see from the photos, I set up the world globe -- with Antarctica at the bottom- and a map. (This was the original National Geographic map of Antarctica that spurred our interest in the topic in the first place. Usually, I keep the map on the wall by my desk [visible in the corner] next to our Antarctica Bulletin Board which has photos that were sent to us from our USAP pen pals from McMurdo Station and South Pole. Only Antarctica photos have gone on the bulletin board except for the baby pictures of Gibson and the photo of Miss Kitty ... because Miss Kitty, of course, rules!)

John's discussion of his post-Antarctica adjustments to life in the USA fascinated us, but what he had to say about what he learned about " a strenuous life" and what he learned from the life and death of the Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott simply blew us away! It was astonishing. The passages John chose to quote from Scott's diary were simple amazing and extraordinary. All of us were spellbound since this letter was coming from a man who actually had lived at the Pole himself. John finished his letter by encouraging the students to keep learning, as he said himself, "I am still learning."

We were fortunate indeed to have met all seven of our pen pals via email from McMurdo and South Pole Station. And we have all learned a great deal from them.

John was the first pen pal to write us, and he will continue to correspond with our school from his home in the USA as he adjusts to life post-Antarctica (as we continue to adjust to life post-Katrina).

We are all following his advice too -- as John said before: "Ancora imparo... I am still learning!"

The South Pole Rules!

--Adrian