MCVB 2020 Starts Outdoors

As we've stated before, our season got off to an incredibly different start this year.  Once we all got through the initial testing and protocols, we were able to start practice...OUTSIDE!  The entire Athletic Complex was closed for the first couple of weeks of school as more procedures were put in place and we waited to get through the next round of testing after classes started.  We made the best of our situation because at least we could still get together to practice.  We had to mask up, as we will all semester, whether inside or out, and we had to maintain a distance of 6' from each other, so our huddles were extremely large, and there were no more high fives, which is a bummer.  To practice keeping our social distance, I told the team that I would try to trip them up and say, "great job, and then pretend to high five them!"  They were instructed to be sure to remind me politely that I needed to keep my space if I approached them.  They were great, and occasionally, they had to remind me as I tried to just get closer so I could talk to one of them, but we all quickly got used to our new "normal".

Most of the players had taken quite a bit of time off from playing volleyball since the lockdown in March, so it was good for us all to start out slowly.  We started with the basic skills of passing and serving, as we always do, but we just stayed there, working on technique and getting lots of reps with serving and receiving and platform angles etc.  And, we did this with everyone, including setters and middles.  Since we had to stay 6' apart, even once we started hitting, middles could only run 3's and slides to keep their distance from the setters.  This meant a lot of drills, and then 2v2 and 3v3 competitions, which is actually great for everyone to develop overall court sense and all around skills.

Fortunately, Mother Nature helped us out by having gorgeous Fall weather most of the time we were outside.  There was only one day where we just couldn't set up the nets because there was simply too much wind, but that was great for doing a VOLT workout.  We had a very dedicated cadre of injured players that came every day, and even when the air got a little cooler, they were still enjoying the sun from their place at the edges of our courts, and of course, spaced 6' apart from one another.  They were the self-appointed DJ's so we'd have music for our practices, which was a nice treat also!

The College tried to do what they could to help the students on campus enjoy themselves despite all of the new rules and regulations governing campus life due to Covid.  One day they had Ice Cream Trucks appear all over campus and offered FREE ice cream to all students, which was a great treat, especially as they came by just as practice was ending!  The limit on gatherings was 10 unless supervised (allowing up to 25), which meant at least we could all be together during practice sessions.  It was hard to socialize as a team since they couldn't have the usual "Team Dinner" after practice, so they just formed smaller groups to get together and eat, or walk to the Organic Garden, or just hang out together outside in small groups.

We also had several September birthdays to celebrate, which we did the same as always....with cup cakes!  My daughter Lois loves to bake, so she did most of the baking for the Team Birthdays this year, and she enjoyed the challenge of making the Vegan ones for Kelly, which were enjoyed by everyone.  Hopefully we debunked the myth that vegan treats aren't as tasty!  

Since we weren't quite sure if or when we'd get to play 6v6, we decided to have a season-long 3v3 (and sometimes 2v2) tournament each week to get at least some kind of competition.  We switched up the teams each week and kept a cumulative score of both wins and points, so at the end of the season we should have a winner, or two?!  The typical coin flip for serve became a Rochambo as witnessed here by Corley and Kelly!

MCVB 2020 Off To a Different Start

 MCVB 2020 certainly looks a little different.  For starters, we zoom now, and have zoomed all summer about many topics, including the far too many social injustices, the many huge peaceful protests across the country and the reactions to them, the Corona virus and the varied responses to it, Black Lives Matter, and what MIDD life might look like this year, as well as what decision would be made about our season--to compete or not to compete?  We celebrated our seniors last Spring through a zoom celebration after everyone was forced to leave campus at a moment's notice, but we have come through the summer and have arrived back on campus, mostly together! We are missing two of our family members, Addie and Jane, who opted to have a different, remote experience this Fall, and we'll update you all on their experiences later, but we're trying to keep in touch with them to keep our MCVB family together.

Middlebury's plan was comprehensive, starting with a quarantine protocol before coming back, in addition to a totally new set up rules once back on campus.  Here's our President greeting students as they entered the Day 0 Testing upon arrival at MIDD. They had to unpack and move in alone--no parents were allowed in any dorms, and then they had to stay in their rooms until this first test came back negative, which was typically 24-36 hours.  After the first negative test, they could roam about campus (but not allowed off campus) and had to be retested on Day 7--all before classes or practices could start. By doing this, we figured we could create a sort of bubble and keep everyone as safe as possible from this horrible virus.  Here are a sampling of room selfies taken that first day when they all moved in:

That first week the students had to figure out how to navigate campus and re-connect with friends, all while staying 6' apart and through masks at all times, even outside.  Group sizes were limited to 10, dining services were to go only, tents were set up all over campus to allow spaces to gather physically distant from each other in case of bad weather.  Being confined to campus with limited group sizes created a plethora of small group gatherings as well as a lot of walking around campus out to the Knoll to enjoy sunsets, or out on the many open areas to enjoy the sunshine or exercise, as well as trying to catch up with friends and teammates.  Our hard work and diligence on the part of the students who are following these rules has paid off with only 2 students testing positive so far, which is extremely low for any campus!

 

 

 

 

There were several logistic glitches getting everyone back on campus, tested, quarantined, and getting access to the dining halls all while staying 6' apart and wearing masks everywhere inside and out.  None were all that big, especially given the huge change we were all undertaking.  One of those glitches, however, was delivering food to those in the third and last arrival group who's test results were taking longer than expected, and thus the food bag they were given on arrival wasn't sufficient.  The Fall athletes, who were in the 2nd group to arrive, were called upon to help deliver food to those stuck in room quarantine until those Day 0 tests came back negative, so here are some of our upperclassmen helping to deliver those meals!  Nice work--especially Ali who was helping out even with her boot and crutch!

The final NESCAC mandate came out shortly before we got started canceling any hope we may have had about possibly competing once in Phase 3.  This was pretty much expected, so in some ways it was just good to know what we were faced with, as a few Conference teams had already cancelled entire seasons.  Given the restrictions we were already planning around, being able to even play 6v6 against ourselves seemed unlikely, so we began planning practices around keeping people physically apart, and were finally given the approval to share a ball.  That was the one rule that had me most troubled because it's really hard to do much of anything in volleyball without another person and being able to share a ball.

 

We have now started practice and are hoping to move into Phase 2 later this week, so I'll update again soon to show what fun we're having playing outside on our grass courts!  This group of resilient, strong, energetic and fun-loving young women is a joy to work with!  They are taking this virus seriously and gently reminding each other about following the protocols to help keep us all safe.  We are happy to be back on campus together, and they realize the only way to keep us all on campus together is to follow the rules and do our best to help each other stay safe.  Despite all of the challenges right now, we are enjoying being together and they are an inspiration to me as they make the best of this current situation, working together to make this a meaningful and rewarding experience for all of us!

Jaime Enjoyed Her Time in New Zealand

Jaime studied this past semester at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.  Her orientation began in Auckland, on the North Island of New Zealand, which she found similar to cities in the US.  The students were able to explore the North Island a bit before heading to the University on the south island.  She, along with some new friends, discovered a beach perfect for swimming, and a quick hike up a dormant volcano within a short drive from the city center.  They also explored Rotorua, which is known for it's geothermal hot springs and geysers, which they all thoroughly enjoyed, despite the smell of rotten eggs that the thermal springs exude.  Another one of her more unique experiences was going "zorbing."  She described this as, "rolling down a hill in an inflatable hamster ball," and actually enjoyed it quite a bit!

After this Orientation, they flew to Dunedin on the Southern Island where the University of Otago was located.  The south island has a much more temperate climate, remaining around 65 degrees F from roughly Oct.-Apr.   Here she discovered some great recreation experiences, better told in her own words.  

"[The] campus is sprawling and surrounded by a beautiful 10 mile botanical garden which was a relaxing place for me to go on runs! I really enjoyed the close proximity to the water and the fact that there were at least 10 different beaches within a 45 minute drive. I went surfing for the first time and went many more times within my short 6 weeks abroad."

Jaime described the history of Dunedin as being unique in that it was originally designed by Scotsmen who came over from Europe, thus creating a town center with a European "feel" which Jaime enjoyed. 

Educationally, her studies included history of the indigenous people to New Zealand, the Maori people, as well as a criminology course and two psychology courses.  The University has about 30,000 students, so her class size varied from 75-450 students, so it was VERY different from her educational experience on the Middlebury campus.

The living situation for this University was one of Jaime's highlights of the semester.  She lived in a two story "flat" with 4 other flatmates and had a short 5 minute walk to campus. These new flatmates became fast friends and they traveled around together quite a bit, and are pictured to the left in front of their flat with their collective traveling van.  

One of the places they visited was Queenstown, which is apparently the adventure capital of the world.  Jaime would agree with that as she went bungee jumping there (see scary picture to the left!)  She also enjoyed exploring the Catlins, which are known for beautiful waterfalls, wildlife, a pineapple track, and hikes overlooking the city of Dunedin.  Dunedin is also home to some famous glow worm caves, which I'm going to have to ask her more about.

Another highlight for Jaime was a day hike known as "routeburn."  In her words, the "hike was insanely hard. It was a hot summer day in New Zealand and the trail was going straight up for about 80% of the time. Not to mention we had a time limit and had to make it back to the bus by 5 pm. Long story short we hiked 19 miles in 8 hours! The view not only at the top but the entire way was absolutely beautiful. We saw blue glacier water running along the trail in addition to huge green peaks and mountains all around us. We were also the first people to hike the trail after there had been a huge flood which completely destroyed the path for a couple months."


A recent MCVB alum, Alice Roberts '18 also spent time in New Zealand, and after seeing Jaime's pictures, she reached out and mentioned that she'd been on that same routeburn!  How fun.  It was definitely an experience that Jaime will never forget, and I'd bet that holds true for Alice as well?!  

Because the semester was cut short, Jaime has a list of places she still wants to explore down there, giving her plenty of incentive to return someday, in addition to the many new "kiwi friends" she now has there!

Emma Loved Coursework Abroad

Although a lot of what students talk about when studying abroad is the ability to travel a lot, especially when studying in Europe, but Emma truly loved her course work.  She was studying Child Development, and part of that class involved working part time for practicum in a Danish kindergarten to get a better feel for their overall educational system.  Here is how she described their system. 

 




"The central theme of their early education is free play/nature play, which often includes risk and always includes creativity. As you can see, the outdoor playground materials are very ambiguous to foster creativity (the children always wear full snow suits so they can get as muddy as they please) :). One of the kindergartens has a wood shop where they actually learn how to use saws, axes and other seemingly dangerous tools as early as age 4!"






















Emma said that although her time there was cut short, she was "super grateful" of for the time she spent in Copenhagen.  She was able to travel some while there, and one of those weekend trips was to Amsterdam to the Van Gogh Museum. 







Additionally, she was able to spend time with teammate Shea, who was in the same program as she was and lived in a separate apartment with a different group of students, but in the same apartment complex.

Another one of her trips was to Switzerland to visit teammate El, where they went skydiving!  Emma and Shea started their program earlier than both El and Jaime and were gone from MIDD after the Christmas Break, while both El and Jaime were on campus for J-Term before starting their respective Programs in Prague and New Zealand.  In that sense, both Emma and Shea had a slightly longer time abroad due to when their program started, in addition to when they were sent home due to the global pandemic.

I'm so happy that all four of our juniors were able to have some sort of abroad experience, even if it was cut short.  Now we just have to find a time for Jack to get his abroad experience in.  Jack was due to travel to Japan in mid March, so not only did he not get his abroad experience, he was left without a semester since it was too far into Middlebury's semester to join late, and because his program never started, it was just cancelled rather than moved on-line.  We'll hope to get an update from him sometime in the future when we know more about the status of future abroad trips, and when that sort of travel might again be permitted and deemed safe.

El Cherished Her Time in Prague

Here's our second installment of our Juniors Abroad!  El studied in Prague, Czech Republic for the semester.  She notes that while she enjoyed the several MIDD KIDS in her program, she also "had the opportunity to make the most incredible, lifelong group of friends, many of whom were from other NESCAC schools."  One of those friends was actually also a volleyball player, and although a purple cow, they became tight nonetheless!

One of the other many benefits of study abroad is typically the ability to travel and see a lot of different places while studying in your specific program.  As a side note, most Midd students report that study abroad is easier academically than Middlebury courses on campus.  Her travels included visiting Amsterdam, different cities in Switzerland and several other towns in The Czech Republic, and some of those excursions were to visit other MIDD friends studying abroad in Europe, including teammate Emma Walsh, who was studying in Copenhagen! On one excursion, they met up in Switzerland and even went skydiving together!

Although traveling was exciting and fun, El fell in love with the city of Prague and everything it offered.  She cited the experience of being able to "live in a culture that differs so greatly from home was incredibly unique and valuable."  El, as so many Midd students, feels that the study abroad experience was integral to her college experience, and although her time abroad was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic, she was extremely grateful for the opportunity!

Shea Grateful for Abroad Experience

Junior year abroad is a very common and popular experience for many college students, and certainly a large percentage of MIDD students take advantage of this wonderful opportunity--roughly 60% of the student body studies abroad at Middlebury.  This year, all four of my juniors were studying abroad, and our student-assistant, Jack, was about to leave for his program in Japan right when the world-wide shut down was happening.  The other four were already settled in their programs and had to return home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  We're not going to focus on their trials of getting back home, even though some had extreme difficulties and were somewhat harrowing, they all returned home safely, so that's the main thing.  Despite the total disruption of the semester, our juniors still had memorable and profound experiences in their respective countries.

Both Shea and Emma were in Copenhagen, and had apartments across the hall from each other in the same apartment complex.  During her time there, Shea mentioned being lucky to have traveled a lot with her roommates and close friends from MIDD. They visited Belgium and Scotland, as well as different cities in Switzerland, France, and Germany.






Shea described it as, "the most incredible experience that I will cherish forever."  She also mentioned, "the thing I miss the most about Copenhagen is the city's biking culture. There's nothing like biking on a sunny day along the water to class, my apartment, or to a fabulous brunch place.  I am very grateful for my time there and being home has made me even more grateful..."

Coronavirus Sends Everyone Home

This social distancing picture of Gigi and Corley was a chance encounter at the beach after returning home to San Francisco and getting outside for fresh air and to walk the dogs.  You have to love that--and even though these teammates shared hugs, high fives, and huddles  all season, now they're keeping their social distance!

This post is now a good three weeks into our new reality of remote learning for the Spring Semester 2020.  On March 12, 2020 it was announced that everyone would be asked to leave the campus at the end of that week.  The students were asked to take everything home if they could, or box up their rooms and leave everything well marked and identified in their rooms and leave.  There was a week of extra spring break before our regularly scheduled break for everyone to deal with this reality as the news and the stay-at-home orders were changing and growing daily.  This is an unprecedented time of uncertainty and chaos in most of our lives, and unfortunately, the news just keeps getting worse.

Video Link--click here.

Now that break has ended and MIDD students have just completed their first week of remote learning, I thought it was a good time for a Blog post.  I have updates from most of our coaching staff, and will compile updates from the players moving forward, but wanted to share this fun video as well.  (I've been having some technical difficulties, so if it doesn't play, it was posted on Instagram (@middvb a couple weeks ago.)

Now, for the coaches updates.

First, we'll start with our Faculty Affiliate, who gave us some great Mindfulness information, as always!  She wrote:

"I also wanted to remind everyone that the Koru Mindfulness website is a nice resource that offers free guided meditations and videos that demonstrate helpful ways to use your breath for calming and renewal: https://student.korumindfulness.org/resources.html.  During this very stressful time, these practices can be enormously grounding.  Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions regarding ways to use these practices to ease anxiety and regain focus. "  THANK YOU, MELISSA!!

Here's what Brian sent me:  

First, a link on why hand-washing works with soap and water, if you do it correctly!

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/11/21173187/coronavirus-covid-19-hand-washing-sanitizer-compared-soap-is-dope

 
...and then a fun art project from his daughter, where Brian wrote to us:

 "On one rainy day last week, my older girl Shea found white rocks in the nearby stream and decided to build a tower.  It's about 4 feet tall and visible from our road, so people are stopping to look and take pictures.  Spontaneous outdoor sculpture!  Be well, Brian


Here's what Jill had to say about her life now: 

What's going on with me? My sons are home from high school and college and we are all making new adjustments living in close quarters.

We made a sign for Zach to put on his bedroom door that says "College. Do not disturb". (poor guy) My husband, sister and I are starting to pull away from the screens more and play interactive games. In fact, I just cancelled TV for 6 months. Rain or shine, every day I go out for a solo road walk or hike in the woods to remind myself how lucky I am to live in Vermont and to count my blessings of family, friends and good health.

 

And, here's my home office setup (my back misses my standing desk already!), as well as some pictures of my daughter's 20th birthday "party" with her grandparents sitting in the car to maintain distance.  I also included our chickens, which are thankfully starting to lay eggs with some regularity again thanks to the longer daylight hours of Springtime!  Sadly we don't have Annie anymore, but the chickens are happy to be "free ranging" again since Annie would have chased and possibly eaten them?!

 We've been trying not to go into stores, so thankfully our small local grocery store offers curb side pickup after ordering on-line and our local Shaws store will actually deliver your groceries to your house, so here's a look at our grocery delivery.  It's amazing how much food a family of 5 can go through in a week when you eat every meal at home.  Especially when your "kids" are 15-20 year old adults now!