Kimberly Moritz BlogPosts

Dear Parents of Participants Traveling on the GCS Trip to Switzerland, Italy and France:

As the trip draws near, I want you to know something important. If you’re starting to feel a bit panic stricken, if you’re thinking “why did I ever agree to let my child go on this trip?”, if you’re wishing you were going too so that you could ensure his or her safety, please know that you are completely normal.

I received this email message from a parent yesterday,

My husband seems fine about the trip but I’m really worried. I’m doing my best to hide it. Please take care of my baby!

And this from another parent today,

I know I have always told my kids to go places when they had the chance, but! Please be careful, stay in a group, listen to instructions, don’t be going out at night in a strange country, keep _______ right by your side at all times.  I have been praying and will continue praying for a safe trip for all going.  I’m getting a little crazy now so I will close. BE CAREFUL!!!!

I understand this feeling of anxiety and fear only too well. Your head tells you it’s the right thing to do, sending your child out into the big world to experience other places and cultures first hand. You want your kid to be brave and strong and enjoy all that life has to offer. But your heart screams, “please don’t let anything bad happen to my precious child!” and you wish you could just take it all back, keeping your kid at home where you know what to expect.

When our daughter was only eight years old (8 years old!), my in-laws prevailed upon me to take her to Germany where my mother-in-law maintains her family home. I’d never been out of the country and I was terrified. Had my husband not insisted, I would never have agreed. I desperately needed my mother-in-law to call me once they had safely landed. As a frugal German, this was simply not done–of course they’d be fine, she wasn’t paying for an international phone call and where would she find a pay phone?! I think she saw the look of abject fear in my eyes and relented. Here’s what I need you to know. Once I received that phone call and I knew that my daughter had arrived safely, was on solid ground in a place far away but not all that different from Western New York, I was fine. I was delighted to know she would have this opportunity and I knew it was good parenting, a way to say to my child, “you are strong and capable and you should go out and grab life for all that it has to offer.”

And yet every time my children travel, the two to three days prior to departure, I regret the decision to go and worry myself sick. It’s normal. It will pass. And I will post to the blog at the first possible opportunity. Just realize that we begin touring (without a shower!) on Saturday morning. We won’t check into a hotel until Saturday night. At first sign of an Internet connection though, I’ll be there for you with a post. So breathe easy Mom and Dad.

And by the way, the second mom who emailed is my own and she should be used to her 45 year old traveling by now! Guess we never stop worrying about and wanting the best for our children. Don’t worry Mom, I’ll follow all of your instructions. Promise. Love, Kimberly

While I was at Gowanda, I made a commitment to share a significant responsibility with my two wonderful colleagues, Bill Schindler and Barb Dempsey. Even though I’m now at Randolph, I plan to follow through with the commitment and so we will be leading a student tour to Switzerland, Italy and the French Riviera that leaves this Friday at 4:30 am. This was a commitment that I discussed with our BOE members during the interview and so I’ll be using my vacation time to travel with the group.

This will be my fourth student tour to Europe, the first which I led from my teaching position at Pine Valley in 1997. Every trip has been an incredible experience for the students and definitely for me. I recall planning that first trip in wonder that I would have the opportunity to travel abroad, something this small town coal miner’s daughter never imagined before that day.

I love that my life has landed me here in Western New York and I’m truly blessed in my personal and professional life. But I love seeing and imagining all of the other amazing places that I could have landed if I was born to a different life or made different choices. I recognize what an incredible opportunity this trip provides and I can’t imagine doing it without students. Well, about day eight when we’re exhausted from the non-stop twelve hour days I might be able to imagine it, but right now all I can think about is the anticipation of the small town kids who are going on the adventure of a life time. I’m privileged to get to see it with them and through their eyes.

So Randolph Readers, we’ll be sharing this space with G-Town (Gowanda) Readers over the span of the tour as I’ll be blogging about our trip. I managed to post about the trip when we went in 2007 and it was a great success. We don’t have cell phones over there and pay phones are hit or miss so the blog is a way to keep those nervous moms at home (Mrs. Kerker ) vicariously in touch. And feel free to post a comment because I’ll be sure to share them with the group. It’s easy, give it a try!

Get ready to join us for the trip of a lifetime Readers, but first we’ve got about 24 hours of travel time from Friday through Saturday morning–stay well while we’re gone.