No Sleep for 24+ Hours

My kids love me <3

Flower one of my girls gave me

After the talent show on Friday, the tears would not stop. All of my girls were running around, getting their termbooks signed, and of course, crying. This went on until 1:30AM when we had our last RC Group meeting. I tried really hard not to cry, but to no avail. These girls really left their mark and I don't know what I am going to do without them. We did our final highs and lows and then headed downstairs to go to IHOP.

I drove six kids and Desiree to IHOP. When we got there, Jake and William, two TAs, were sitting at a table. We picked the booth directly behind them since we had to cram about six or seven RCs between two tables. I decided to get chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, in hopes that it would hold me over until I could eat again.
I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the table at IHOP waiting for the kids to finish eating. At 3:45, I took six kids and Desiree back to Myers. I dropped them off and picked up seven more kids. We were all so tired, but since I was driving, I needed to stay alert. I turned up the music pretty loud in the car and 'Turn Down for What' came on. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that all but one kid was asleep. It was the strangest lullaby I'd ever heard. =P
When we all returned to Myers, the first big group of kids got on a bus to the airport. Four of my girls got on that bus. I was tearing up as I said goodbye, but it hadn't fully hit me at that moment that these kids weren't coming back...

Selfie with Diamond sleeping on the couch

Things died down around 6AM and the staff members started to fall asleep on random pieces of furniture until about 7AM. Once 7 hit, I had about an hour and a half to relax aka take a nap in my room.
At 8:30, I was in the hallway, monitoring students until 10:30. I saw lots of kids crying and even had a few say goodbye to me. It was quite sad.

I already miss my girls

From 10:30-3, I was in the lobby saying goodbye to my kids and other kids who really impacted me. It was so sad. I think I might've cried more saying goodbye to these kids than I did on my graduation day.... and I cried a LOT on graduation day....
The kids that I worked with were truly amazing and it feels really weird not having them here. As much as they got on my nerves just being teenagers, I am truly going to miss each and every one of them. They've taught me a lot about myself and how to handle situations and I'd like to think I taught them a few things as well. I saw my high school self in so many of these kids, which is why it was so hard to say goodbye.

When all was said and done, I took the best nap of my life. I woke up around 7:30 and was ready to go out to eat with the other staff members at 8. Of course it took forever to get seated since there were sixteen of us, but when we finally sat down, it was worth it.

We ate at Trappeze, the first place I ate in Athens. Our waiter sucked this time and we didn't get out of there until about 10:45....
We headed to Zach's apartment, one of the TA's, and had the best nonTIPpropriate party we could.
We said goodbye to a few staff members who were not returning next term, which was sad, but at least it was a good time for everyone.

When I woke up this morning (at noon), I felt great, which was surprising considering the past 48 hours....
At 1, I headed to the Georgia Museum of Art with Jake the TA. It was kind of small, but the collection was pretty nice.
Now I'm hanging out in the piano room with the TAs. We are all doing our own things on our laptops waiting to order pizza for dinner. After dinner, we are going to trivia at the Blind Pig again. I'm excited. =D I think we are trying to go to trivia at a different bar every night of the intersession.

Until next time,
A