PART TWO: Naive and protected

So, where were we? Oh, yeah, I was in a strange bed and an even stranger man was standing in the room. He smiled and said, "Sorry to wake you, I just needed my belt." Picking up his belt, wishing me a restful night, he extinguished the light and left. Surprisingly, I rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next day I traveled to an inner city elementary school and began the testing reading skills of little kids. It was amazing how willing the little guys were to do well on the tests set before them. Eating lunch with the teachers in the lounge was an unique experience for me, as I wasn't an education major at this point. Sitting among the teachers and listening to the daily chatter bouncing around the tables made an impression on me.

Each day I followed the same routine of testing elementary students, eating cafeteria food with teachers and returning to the trailer in the evening. No one knew exactly where I was and what I was doing, but anxiety about my situation never surfaced.

At the end of the week, we packed up all of our equipment, boarded the small plane and took to the night skies. Watching the blinking lights below and eventually the familiar structures, made me grateful to be returning to my own territory. Since I had been able to conduct more research than the professor originally predicated, I was paid twice the original amount. Another chunk of tuition was earned, along with a unique adventure bonus.

It never occurred to me that I was taking any risks by traveling out of state in a personal plane, staying out in the middle of nowhere by myself and trusting a young, charming professor. I could have just as easily been kidnapped, tortured, sold into human bondage or killed. But none of these dangers ever crossed my mind and so thank goodness everything turned out so well.

Many young ladies take less risks and find themselves the victims of their innocence and predators who hunt for targets like them. If there's a lesson to be learned from my experience it would be this: when a young person wants to have an adventure make sure there's a older, wise person nearby who can discuss all of the possible outcomes.

God does really take care of fools and children; as I was both at that point in my life. Thank you, God for giving me this experience and keeping me safe.