Spring Break by Caitlyn
Spring break has already come and gone! WOW! That means seven more weeks of school then finals…. It is almost overwhelming. So, rather than focusing on all the work I need to do, I am going to share my spring break with you!
Since I am from Nevada, I did not go home. I actually did a little traveling instead! My break started in Chicago with the Honors Learning Community. I am only going to tell you about my first day there and Carla, a fellow blogger, will enlighten you with all the fun facts from day two! So, day one starts and myself and other Honors Learning Community members are up by 5:30 a.m. and ready to get on the buses by 6 a.m. I am not an early bird, so this was one of the most difficult tasks I ever had to endure! After a pit stop and a four-hour bus ride, Chicago appears in the distance! It was so awesome with huge buildings, greenery, and people everywhere!
Our first stop was the Field Museum of Natural History. Let me tell you, there was so much to see! But my favorite thing was Sue. Sue is the most preserved T-rex in the United States. I found out that she is about 97% real, lived to be 28-years-old, died from a bone disease and was preserved because she fell into a river.
After the Field Museum, the weather in Chicago got really bad. After dropping our stuff at the hostel and getting side tracked visiting Soldier Field, we had to figure out where to go next. We were all exhausted and almost didn’t go out! BUT, being females, there was one place we had to go, the magnificent mile! For those who don’t know, the magnificent mile is a mile (or more!) of just shopping. TO get there, we took the subway. A fairly new experience for all of us, but exciting nonetheless.
The unexciting part was being pelted with these strange snow bullets that were coming towards us. Sometime we stopped in stores we hated just to get out of the cold. The weather made some us a little edgy, but we are girls and had to at least give shopping a chance! Then, we wanted to grab some dinner so we went to a place called Ed Debeveics. It was so awesome! But you have to prepared if you ever go there, the waiters are supposed to be witty, sarcastic and borderline rude. To make up for it, they dance every half hour on the counters.
Then, we had to meet up with the honors learning community to go to The Second City. The Second City is a comedy club where people such as Ryan Stiles (Who’s Line is it Anyway?) got their start. It is totally hilarious and while some jokes are almost inappropriate, college student would totally find it enjoyable. That was basically how we concluded our first night. To hear about the antics of day 2, be looking for Carla’s blog!
After Chicago, I spent a couple days bumming it with a friend. One would think this was would be relaxing, but in reality, breaks are never really breaks, except Christmas. Throughout the week, I got more emails from professors telling me they forgot to assign more homework so I kept getting assignments piled on top of each other! Regardless, I made time for the important homework and then did what I want!
The last part of my break was spent in New York. My brother goes to West Point and my family had planned to all meet up in New York and see him. We were even invited to a military ball! All was going according to plan and were going to meet up within an hour of our flights arriving. But, that totally did not happen. My sister’s original flight was cancelled and my parents were delayed in Utah. I was the only one who arrived to the airport on time, 7:30 p.m. My sister did not show up until 3 a.m. and my parents arrived at 4 a.m. After picking us up and getting to our motel near West Point, it was 6 a.m. on Friday morning! We had to shower and leave to go see my brother…so…we were running on one hour of sleep. I was so edgy and tired but getting to see my brother and how he lives at West Point was worth it.
After having that 48-hour day, we got to go to the military ball and then rush to catch my flight back to BG that Sunday evening. The best place to test your patience is New York! The traffic is awful, the drivers are terrible, and toll roads suck up your money. Yet, I still got to airport in time and my sister even flew back with me before going back to her college. Pretty cool, huh?
So, overall, I loved my sleepless, restless, homework filled, stressful spring “break.” I encourage every college student to go somewhere that they haven’t before. You only get to do this once and even if it means you lose sleep and don’t have time to do everything you want, you will get to experience so many more things than those around you and that alone is totally thrilling! WHOO THANKS SPRING BREAK 2011!