Experience of a Lifetime

Have you ever had those times where you feel like shouting “Won’t I ever get a break!” For me it’s a regular occurrence, but I know that I also have the power to withdraw from the things of less importance. Yet, I am torn with the choice to do many things mediocre, or a few things very well. As for now I’ve decided to slow things down a little bit and make homework a bigger priority.

I thought I was doing better with things, but somehow I got so busy with intramurals, meetings, work, and other things that I didn’t start studying for my Theatre Arts History class until the night before. That day I had also swam and played soccer so I was exhausted by the time I started. Needless to say I fell asleep studying. Luckily my work allowed me to come in later, but studying in the morning did not prove to be enough. I ran to class only to find that I had showed up early and had left all my books at home. Others showed up and we reviewed things, but when I got the test I knew I was in trouble. I had 50 minutes to fill out a short answer, essay question test, and I knew barely half of all the terms.

I didn’t do very well on the test, but I didn’t have time to worry about it because I had to get everything ready for the exec retreat for Azalea. We were leaving to the President, Caitlin’s house in Arlington to do something fun as exec and to make plans for the upcoming year. I had a crazy week, and I wasn’t really excited about going since I had a LOT of homework to do, but oh well.

The retreat was so much fun!! My car left the latest so we got there later at night, had dinner, and got ready for bed basically. In the morning we ate pancakes while being tied to our neighbor with string. It was hard to collaborate how to work together to eat and pour drinks, etc. The next activity after everyone got ready were a couple of engineering

Protect the egg!

projects. The first one we had to use certain materials to protect an egg from breaking when dropped (shown at left), and the second was a contraption to go down a string to pop a balloon. It was hard and I was unsuccessful both times, but it was fun trying.

Later on in the evening after meetings and free time (where I managed to study some) we did a runway project game. We went all over the farm gathering supplies for our dresses. It was pretty impressive what we came up with in the 30 minutes or so we had to find and assemble our outfits. My friend Jen and I (shown at right) ran and found a lot of ropes, some floor mats of cars, and chains from one barn.

Runway Project

It worked out pretty well, especially with the ropes. We went down the runway a couple at a time where we were judged. The judges made their final decision between the two groups, and although we lost we definitely felt like we had the most creative costumes.

It was hard to prepare to go home after so much time playing games, and bonding as exec members in the middle of nowhere. Jen and I decided we’d leave last with Caitlin the president so we could walk around before we left. We went on an adventure where we climbed under a barb-wired fence, hiked up and down hills, and strolled along the river.

The River

It was absolutely beautiful. I was very glad we had stayed so I was able to see the farm. We also had some fun in a small junk yard with old beat up cars. The day was only half way through, and we had done so much. The drive home was nice and I reflected on all that had happened. I didn’t study as much as I should have, but I certainly feel like I learned a lot more about some people there, and I grew a lot closer to exec members in general. I really enjoyed our little vacation, and I feel in a way that what I gained was more important than studying for a test.