Fall break may be short, but several Northwestern students were able to experience plenty of off-campus adventure despite its brevity.
The International Club went to Chicago with 12 students and three chaperones and stayed at a church near the city for fall break.
“[Chicago] is a diverse city with many people, cultures, and ethnicities,” I-Club member Kory McMahan said. “It also provides students with a more urban experience than they can find anywhere near Orange City.”
I-Club has made this trip every year as a time to relax and experience different cultures.
“Some groups went to the Chicago Cubs town, Navy Pier, the art museum, Millennium Park and a lot of shopping,” McMahan said.
Along with their sightseeing, they made it a point to visit some unique restaurants.
“We went to an Indian-Pakistani buffet, authentic Korean and Chinatown,” McMahan said.
I-Club also had some spare time to relax with one another.
“My favorite part was getting to know the people on the trip,” McMahan said. “We stayed at a church with a big gym and played dodge ball, basketball some charades, and laughed for hours.”
The I-club did not have any itinerary to follow which gave them the freedom to explore the city of Chicago as they wished.
“We didn’t have any scheduled plans, I’m just hoping that everyone had a fun and relaxing time there,” McMahan said.
Another group of students decided to travel to Colorado for the break. Cayla Slattery made her way to Estes Park along with her sister, Abbey Slattery and Joseph Tolsma.
“We just explored Estes. It is a touristy kind of town, and we just walked around,” Cayla Slattery said. “They had a pumpkin festival going on in the middle of town. There were bands, and pumpkin decorating contest and funnel cakes.”
When the group attempted to find their campsite again that night, they were unable to locate it because it was so late.
“We set up camp on a hill, and when we came back we got lost walking up a hill. So we ended up just sleeping in our cars,” Slattery said.
In the morning Cayla realized that she was much closer to her camp than she thought in the middle of the night.
“We were literally 10 feet from our camp. There was a big rock formation right above our camp and I was to the left of it looking down and if I would have turned, I would have seen it,” Slattery said.
Dayton Hall also headed to Colorado with his close friend, Kyle Cleveringa, to do some hiking.
“Some of the greatest hiking trails are in Colorado, and I miss being around mountains. I miss the crisp cool air only found in the upper elevations,” Hall said.
Hall was looking forward to relaxing, hiking, and spending time with friends.
“I couldn’t wait to reach the top of the mountain and take in the sights,” Hall said.
Hall and Cleveringa spent a few days in Rocky Mountain National Park hiking, fishing, and climbing Gray’s peak, a mountain that sits over 14,000 ft above sea level.
“The feeling of having every thought leave my mind and being reminded how blessed we are to have a God that cares so much for us when the world is so big was breathtaking,” Hall said.
