Campus has been quiet since our Fall 2025 Semester students departed last week. While we adjust to their absence here, these young people are readjusting to their lives back home.

Saying goodbye to a place that feels like home is one of the hardest things to do, especially when you’ve grown in ways that make your old life, or your old self, feel a little foreign. 

Over the past 100 days, we have watched our Semester students come out of their shells, grow into themselves, and become thoughtful, intentional members of our community. We have watched them form lifelong friendships and face hardships only to come out stronger on the other side. They’re leaving The Island School with new interests, new friends, a newfound confidence in themselves, and a new sense of home. 

During these 100 days, their original homes have been waiting for them, but not necessarily growing with them. For some, they look forward to the comforts: air conditioning, their own bed, a warm shower… For others, the transition back feels daunting, filled with uncertainty about how to fit into their old lives as a changed person.  As the semester drew to an end, students spent time in Creative Writing to process the complexities of going home through “Where I’m Going” poems.

Semester student Phoebe captured the feeling of now having two places to call home:

I am going to a place where no one will understand my experience
I will constantly repeat the same stories and know the listener will miss the meaning
I am going to a place that feels less and less like my home by the day
Now I have two homes
One that fostered my growth and one that fostered my comfort
I am going to homesickness
For the people I now call my family
The ocean I now call my home
The warm weather embracing me in a big hug each time I step outside.” 

Going home can feel nearly impossible. Friends and family might not fully understand what they have experienced during their program, and it’s hard not to get brought back into their former daily routines. 

These students aren’t just homesick for their Island School home; they have also gained an awareness of how much they have changed while home has stayed the same. Phoebe reflected on what belonging means to her now: 

“I am going to long school days
Homework
Grades
Drama
Drama
Drama
Drama that doesn’t matter to me anymore
That feels silly
Pointless
Mean
Drama that used to make me feel like I was a part of something
That being included in the gossip meant I belonged
Now I know that belonging is the opposite
Belonging is when you sit in a circle giving shines and ownerships
Doing kudos and namy’s
Borrowing clothes constantly
Being mindful of how you’re living and making choices to benefit the community not only yourself
Now I know what it feels like to belong.”

Going back home means transition. It means leaving Island School life and stepping back into life at home. Soren captured what this exchange can look like: 

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“I’m trading the spontaneous meetups around campus, for random and irrelevant text messages with friends,
A circle of 55 replaced with a group of 10
The warm ocean breeze, replaced with tiny snow flakes that fill the ski resort I call home
I’m leaving the silly wakeup call from voices of 23 strangers turned brothers, and going to the voices replaced by my sister’s phone calls from college and my parents wondering what my plans for the night are.” 

While it is hard to leave so much behind, a newfound family, memories, and experiences they have collected over the past 100 days, they get to take home with them something irreplaceable, an understanding of who they are and what they are truly capable of. Isla reflected on returning home transformed: 

“But I am going back with a different view of myself and my town.
I am going back after facing challenges that I could have never imagined.
I am going back as a stronger version of myself who has learnt and grown over 100 days of an unforgettable experience.
I am going back knowing that I can spend days alone, or weeks nonstop around so many other people.
I am going back with an open mind about my future.
Knowing that I may be leaving the rainforest and beach after this school year.
But I have realized how open I am to change, how much I need it to be happy.
And I now know that I can face difficulty and overcome it with growth.” 

While it is bittersweet to say goodbye, our students aren’t truly leaving The Island School behind—they’re carrying pieces with them as they continue on their journey. They are taking the friendships they have forged through late-night conversations in the dorms and early morning long track runs. They are taking the strength and confidence they have found in themselves through a community that has loved and supported them these past 100 days. They will continue to be where their feet are, live sustainability, and show up for their community. 

Our students are going back to their homes across the globe. Some are just a short flight away in Nassau, while others’ home is a trek back to Alaska or the United Kingdom, but no matter the distance, they’ll all take with them the important lesson that you can do hard things. Going home is hard. Change is hard. But they are ready. They are capable.

Soren captured this perfectly: 

“I wouldn’t say I’m going home, or leaving, but I would say wherever life takes me, I’m bringing the fall of 25 with me
And, if you were to ask me where I’m going, I would say I don’t know, but I do know wherever I’m going, I’m going far.”