Far Away

Far Away by Ingrid Michelson became one of my favorite songs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdVgCqdV9wI) when I found out that I was going to spend the summer in Santa Cruz, CA.

Far away, far away, I want to go far away To a new life on a new shore line Where the water is blue and the people are new To another island, in another life.

That pretty much sums up how I feel right now - I have another life, far away, on another coast.

I recently arrived in Santa Cruz, CA to start a position as Academic Dean for a summer program for gifted children. While I have worked for this program before, I am at a new site and a new position. Ultimately, I oversee the academic program and all of the teaching staff, which is really cool. I love this program (see "I belong here") and am fortunate to have a new challenge presented to me. Our students arrived on Sunday, and everything is just brimming with excitement and energy.

Additionally, the view from here isn't too bad either…

I cannot believe how gorgeous it is here. I had never been on the West Coast before, and CA is just beautiful. It is actually on the cool side in Southern California, which is fine by me. And the air…I don't know how to explain it. It is just so fresh and pure, it is almost as if I could drink it. It is that refreshing. Every time I go outside, I am just in awe of the redwoods and the view….

The one downside is that the opening week was super busy. So, running was put on the back burner. Now, I needed my energy on getting the camp ready to go. But I know that it will still be waiting for me soon!

Because it is not that I have to do this, I get to do this.