Spring Break
Good Fun With Good Friends
Reuniting And It Feels So Good
John Bailey
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Focus
Don't you miss high school? The busywork, the screeching parents, the classes you had to go to, the neurotic-but-still-slightly-charming band teacher on whom everyone took bets on whether he'd off himself with a flute case. No, I suppose you probably don't miss high school.
But you probably do miss your high school friends, unless the "who's sitting at my prom table" drama had a higher than usual level of fallout. And though everyone will be sad when the semester's over and summer begins - no more President Hogan blog updates - we'll have the comfort of those familiar names and faces, coming back out of a time long forgotten. A younger time, a more idyllic time, a time of the freshest, rawest innocence.
But perhaps that time still exists. Call them up. Get in your dad's Volvo and swing by their place. What are you guys gonna do? Watch movies? Drink cheap beer? Eat burgers? Please. That's just regressive. Try harder than that. Let's throw some ideas out there:
Heroic Hikes
Some UConn students are privileged enough to live in states with famous, relevant natural wonders. The Grand Canyon, the chilly, romantic shores of Maine, the Rockies-but lots of us live in Connecticut. What do we get, huh? Well, Connecticut's got more than a little bit of charm, though it's often devoured by suburbia. Even if historic rock walls and cellars from the 1700s don't get your motor running, a scenic view from the top of a precipitous drop is sure to give you and your buddies something to talk about ("I wonder how far from the cliff you'd bounce if I pushed you," etc). Check out the Connecticut-Massachusetts section of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Bear Mountain and Devil's Hopyard State Park. There are tons of Web sites that maintain useful lists of trails around the state, making them easy to find-there may even be one within a quick bike ride of your house. Best of all, they're generally free.
Creative Crews
If you and your friends all work 40 hours a week at some soul-sucking retail job, your minds probably feel something like dried raisins when you come home and hit the couch. But the last thing you need is more sitcoms and reality TV: be creative! It's easy, it's fun. Don't worry about whether you have "talent" or "ability," because those are fake concepts for fake people. Get the crew over, grab some paint and some huge pieces of paper, and see what comes out. No, seriously. Can't paint? Have a paint fight. Too messy? Write a group story-pass the paper around, everyone contributing a sentence or two. Pen that samurai zombie comedy you've been thinking about for the past few months, then call up that guy you know with the copy of Premiere and shoot it. Put it on YouTube. Start a band. Don't know any instruments? Learn some. Perhaps the nose flute.
But you probably do miss your high school friends, unless the "who's sitting at my prom table" drama had a higher than usual level of fallout. And though everyone will be sad when the semester's over and summer begins - no more President Hogan blog updates - we'll have the comfort of those familiar names and faces, coming back out of a time long forgotten. A younger time, a more idyllic time, a time of the freshest, rawest innocence.
But perhaps that time still exists. Call them up. Get in your dad's Volvo and swing by their place. What are you guys gonna do? Watch movies? Drink cheap beer? Eat burgers? Please. That's just regressive. Try harder than that. Let's throw some ideas out there:
Heroic Hikes
Some UConn students are privileged enough to live in states with famous, relevant natural wonders. The Grand Canyon, the chilly, romantic shores of Maine, the Rockies-but lots of us live in Connecticut. What do we get, huh? Well, Connecticut's got more than a little bit of charm, though it's often devoured by suburbia. Even if historic rock walls and cellars from the 1700s don't get your motor running, a scenic view from the top of a precipitous drop is sure to give you and your buddies something to talk about ("I wonder how far from the cliff you'd bounce if I pushed you," etc). Check out the Connecticut-Massachusetts section of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Bear Mountain and Devil's Hopyard State Park. There are tons of Web sites that maintain useful lists of trails around the state, making them easy to find-there may even be one within a quick bike ride of your house. Best of all, they're generally free.
Creative Crews
If you and your friends all work 40 hours a week at some soul-sucking retail job, your minds probably feel something like dried raisins when you come home and hit the couch. But the last thing you need is more sitcoms and reality TV: be creative! It's easy, it's fun. Don't worry about whether you have "talent" or "ability," because those are fake concepts for fake people. Get the crew over, grab some paint and some huge pieces of paper, and see what comes out. No, seriously. Can't paint? Have a paint fight. Too messy? Write a group story-pass the paper around, everyone contributing a sentence or two. Pen that samurai zombie comedy you've been thinking about for the past few months, then call up that guy you know with the copy of Premiere and shoot it. Put it on YouTube. Start a band. Don't know any instruments? Learn some. Perhaps the nose flute.
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