It’s that time of the year again! It’s that time of year when the countdown to summer begins, but more importantly the countdown to graduation is winding down.  There are only a few weeks left in the year before the seniors depart on a new chapter of their lives.  The excitement increases for senior festivities to start such as the senior trip, senior honors night, prom, and, of course, graduation.  After graduation, the real work begins.  Some students are embarking on their journey by going into the military, finding a trade, or going to college in the fall.  I will be attending college in the fall – the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

This past weekend, University of Michigan was hosting a weekend of fun for scholarship recipients. I went to Michigan for two and half days and met a bunch of new people as well as meeting administration for my specific college, which is the College of Literature, Science, and Arts (LSA).  Thursday, April 6 was the first day of the festivities.  The snowy, mid-western weather didn’t put a damper on the make-your-own pasta bar, the fun trivia games, or the bowling night that was planned.

Meeting new people from all over the country and the world was very interesting to say the least.  I met this one student, James, and he was from sunny Los Angeles, California.  He was amazed at the drastic changes in the weather.  He obviously wasn’t accustomed to it being sunny one minute, rainy the next, and then snowy the next.  He wasn’t at all prepared with proper clothes.  I actually felt sorry for him because I knew he was freezing, but luckily he was able to buy some hoodies from the school store. On Friday, the weather cleared up quite nicely to a 70 and sunny day.  We were able to have our scavenger hunt, tour the campus, and tour the Big House without a hitch, or a hail storm.  During the scavenger hunt, I learned a lot about the history of the school and of the state like how President John F. Kennedy spoke on the steps of the Michigan Union while he was running for president.  His speech was so inspirational that there was thousands of students wrapped around central campus.  I hope during my attendance I will be able to witness something that historic.

After the scavenger hunt, we were able to tour the Big House (the football field).  Michigan’s football field can hold over 100,000 fans plus staff.  There’s thousands of people serving as security to ensure the safety of everyone.  Our tour guide also mentioned there are four sharpshooters at the top of the stadium every home game since 9/11.  This makes sense because the Big House is a large attraction that houses thousands of innocent people, and unfortunately that gets taken advantage of in this world we live in.

One quirky thing that shocked me on my weekend were the amount of extracurricular activities they have available.  There are over 1,400 clubs that I could join.  Two famous clubs are the Squirrel Feeding Club and its adversary, the Anti-Squirrel Feeding Club.  The squirrels in Ann Arbor look like cats.  They’re about two times the size of the squirrels in the south suburbs of Chicago.  Add the fact that they mutant squirrels have bright orange bellies instead of being all grey.  The reason for this is probably because they eat more human food than the typical squirrel food.

Michigan does have an interesting superstition that I will make a point to never cross.  In the middle of campus, there’s a golden ‘M’ that everyone holds sacred.  Legend has it that if you step on it, you’ll fail your first final.  That tricky part is how to reverse the curse.  To reverse the curse, you have to run up to the north side of campus and back to central campus before the clock strike twelve.  You have to do all this while being completely naked.  So the way I see it, I’m going to avoid that ‘M’ all together.

From my experience this past weekend, I can honestly say that this is the most excited I’ve been to go back to school in the fall; maybe not that excited for the tremendous workload that’s about to fall in my lap, but I’m more excited for the experience.  College is supposed to be the best years of my life.  This is the time a lot of students like me find who they are and start the rest of their lives.  I’m happy that high school is ending, but even happier that my life is just beginning.

GO BLUE!!

Darlena will attend the University of Michigan. #HillcrestClassOf17 pic.twitter.com/Pa6YSbjpWo

— Hillcrest Hawk Eye (@HCHawkEye) April 10, 2017