One glance at the first week’s schedule, and I panicked. Weekday classes started at 9 a.m. and ended nearly 12 hours later. Oh, and there were assignments at night. By the time Saturday rolled around, “free time” was a foreign concept.
I balanced weekend academic experiences (individual instructor meetings, Sunday clubs and optional stock market lessons), vital activities (sleeping and laundry) and socializing.
The first Saturday, roughly a dozen cherubs headed to the beach, tossing a football in the frigid Lake Michigan water and taking photos on the sand. On our last Friday night, we climbed several staircases and a ladder to gaze at the stars from the top of Dearborn Observatory.
My friends and I devoted weekend mornings to exploring Evanston. We browsed Bookends & Beginnings and Amaranth Books. We picked up fresh cherries and raspberries at the Saturday farmers market and stopped for sesame bagels at Mensch’s, the local Jewish deli.
The scheduled events provided bonding opportunities. I ate cookie dough ice cream with my instructor group to celebrate our Junior Junior Olympics performance. After our night at the sports pavilion, I went into Evanston with friends for Chipotle. And following our final Sunday clubs presentation, we rode the elevator seven floors to the flat top of the Segal Visitors Center, where we hugged, watched the sunset and did cartwheels.
Sure, the ice cream melted and the sun set. But luckily, in our photos, they’re preserved forever.
