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 For those of you who do not know, Rachel Grunder lives in Lincoln
and is married to Lincoln College Professor, Eric Grunder. They have
two children, Ben and Adam, and they all love the Lincoln Railers.
Grunder also has a big heart, lots of enthusiasm, a ton of
positivity and she loves her Hilltoppers as well.
She managed to speak without visibly breaking down that evening,
and here are her words:
So today in my classes, my students
watched a video that they were probably like ‘The cry baby?!’ There
was no irony in that. I am a blubbering mess on the inside. Emily
(Siebert) and I had a moment last week where we just looked at each
other for no apparent reason and just started crying. Emily said, ‘I
have no idea why I’m crying.’ I do...I do...just go. Because what
they are saying is true.
Crazy, crazy, crazy....good. It was a crazy, good three weeks.
Nothing went wrong. (someone in the crowd whispered, “Thank you.”)
Everywhere we went the weather was great. And thanks to Gene and his
crew, everything was on time. It just was smooth sailing.
It takes a whole bunch of people to make that happen. So I know I am
grateful for blowing up your phones everyday. I know there was a lot
of eye-rolling. Here she is again...here she is again. What group
was that in? I don’t know. Let me go back and see. (the crowd
laughed) But thank goodness for technology because, whew, this would
be very difficult to do without it. I am so grateful that my
students were able to express really everything that I already feel,
so thank you all for standing up here in front of a bunch of people
and making yourself vulnerable. It means a lot.
There’s a lot that goes in to teaching. There’s a lot about
educational environment and I know I’m in a really good one. It
takes parents, it takes the administrators, it takes other staff
members, it takes everyone to pull something like this off.
I know Ana and Isa have both expressed how great our school is. We,
as the kids have already said, there’s a lot of things we take for
granted. Not that their school isn’t great, but Ana’s been all over
the country and she’s been able to compare and contrast and she
really knows that I am in the right place.
I feel the same way about all of you. You’re all here and it’s meant
to be. So this has been really, really great.
As the kids expressed, they’ve learned a lot about their language,
they’ve learned a lot about what they want to learn. Peyton doesn’t
want to speak any English anymore in class. Not a word, right?! He’s
like ready, ready, ready. I am so glad to hear that.
They’ve learned a lot about themselves. Some of them had to really
push themselves into situations that as young people they really had
to dig deep and figure out how to get through and that is a sign
again that, you know, we’re maturing, we’re growing and I’m grateful
that everybody pushed through that.
It’s been a really good experience. I don’t know that I’ve seen so
many kids smile so much. Like the kids said, everything has been
received very warmly. We’ve had a warm response from everyone.
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As I told you all before, this part of the
experience is really self-reflective. What do we have here that is so great? And
we don’t take time to do that. We like to complain about a lot of things. We
think it’s annoying that we’re surrounded by corn. Although Jaime said he’s
tired of seeing corn. I think it’s great that they (the Spaniards) got to see
harvest.
It’s quiet in our building. That’s something, I think, that we are not going to
see in Madrid. Spaniards talk all at once and very loudly. (As Grunder said this
the crowd did indeed heighten their chatter and laughter) That’s something we’re
going to have to, you know, right, you knew? And it’s beautiful. And so, we’re
looking forward to seeing that.
They taught all of our students. They’ve done presentations in a lot of the
classes. These young people have stood up in front of English-only classrooms
and have used their English and impressed so many. I am so grateful for all that
you guys do on your end to prepare everyone for using their language. (Grunder
nodded to Ana and Isa) Yes, we have a lot to learn. They’ve learned English
since they were this big. (Grunder held her hand out just a couple feet off the
ground) You’ve learned Spanish for one, well, Miss Wade here, like two days
before she was hosting. So, you know we’re gonna need your help when we come,
okay? (Ana answered “yes” from the crowd)
But we’re very grateful and I don’t know, the beauty of all of it really is, as
Ana said in her speech, it’s the friendship. It’s those kinds of things that
will hopefully last forever. Open up doors for everyone. Those aren’t the things
we get to plan. Those are just the things that happen.
(To the parents and Mount Pulaski students) All of you have been wonderful
hosts. You have gone far above and beyond my expectations and I am really
grateful for that. So thank you all very much. It’s been a really good three
weeks. A really crazy, crazy good three weeks.
And I will steal a line from a young man who wasn’t part of the exchange this
time, Felipe Buenrostro, who stood up in front of the Costa Ricans and said,
“This is not adios. This is hasta luego, right? We will see you later.”
Nodding to the Spaniards, Grunder, or oops Rachel says, “So now it’s your guys’
turn, right?” Ana suggests the students go in front of the crowd as a group,
which they gladly do. Lots of Spanish words are quickly exchanged here as the
group assembles towards the front of the room, trying to decide who will go
first.
[Teena Lowery]
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