By: Stephanie Martinez
If you are new to GLAA you might not be familiar with what Home Leaves are. Once a month all the students go home for five days, to see their families and reunite with loved ones. To make up for the days we miss, we often have school on Sundays. It may seem astonishing at first, but it’s all worth it once that break rolls around. The days leading up to Home Leave feel as if they’re ten times longer. We’re all just waiting for that wonderful Wednesday so that we can go home and see our parents. We have shortened classes on Home Leave day, and we get to wear a more flexible outfit including appropriate jeans and a GLAA issued shirt. As we are dismissed from the chapel, our faculty families usually give us an enjoyable snack for our ride back home, making it all bittersweet.
GLAA is not exclusive to students who only live in Michigan. We have many students who are from different states scattered throughout the U.S. This being said, how do they get home? Plane tickets can be expensive and can be tricky considering the health of our nation. Most students who can’t go home will stay with a staff member or family friends nearby. We are so incredibly blessed with staff members who care so much about us, and who are willing to drive big busses for hours, just for us to get home safely. We have three busses. Each bus makes stops along the way, dropping off students at their stop. There is one bus that is approximately driven for six hours until they reach their destination. You won’t find willing staff members to drive twelve-hour round trips like that anywhere except for here at GLAA.
The five-day break is relaxing and motivates us to keep going. Communication between our classmates and friends doesn’t stop when we get on the bus. I find myself texting my roommate daily, even if it’s just sending funny pictures back and forth or showing her a new song I found. We even have the occasional FaceTime where we laugh so hard, our faces turn bright red.
Once we get back to school, it’s like we never left. We’re greeted by our deans and welcomed back. Miss Linda who is the girl’s Head Dean, spends the night by the door, expressing how much she missed us. Even though we can be a little loud during the day, she claims that she doesn’t mind because it means we’re having fun.
Home Leave is in three and a half weeks. Not that I am counting or anything. I am enjoying my time here at GLAA, and am excited to share this week’s post with you. I cannot wait for you all to read what the next post will entail. Guess you’ll just have to constantly check our Facebook to get updated. Feel free to reach out to us!
Have a lovely week, and an even better weekend.
Great Lakes Adventist Academy 