There is something of an unwritten list of items that one must do while in college. I’m not talking about “Graduate” “Make Dean’s List” “Make Friends”–those are the nice rather tame things that people will easily cop to. What I’m referring to is the need to do fun, rather non-academic things (I shan’t list them specifically because this is a college-sponsored blog!). I’ve been checking quite a few off this year (making me think “hey, have I actually had fun in my previous three years here?”). I nailed a big one this weekend. I accomplished The Road Trip.
I had good cause for my travels; Hailey Harren, one of my teammates and a fellow senior, was running in cross-country nationals in Cincinnati and a group of fellow runners banded together for the journey to support her quest. The quest was long and arduous–the route through Illinois and Indiana rivals South Dakota for dullness. There was peril–getting somehow disconnected from the interstate and ending up 20 miles off our route in Freeport, Illinois (home of the Fighting Pretzels) was rather unexpected. But mostly, there was fun (especially hanging out en masse in Kentucky the night before the race and later at the race itself). One quick note on the race: it was a cross-country event that I wish I could have run. Mud was everywhere and I emerged covered nearly from head to toe in the stuff. And though Hailey did not win her race, it was a journey that will never be forgotten (and one that left me behind in my classes and sleep-deprived…but it’s all good).