Welcome back students! As sad as everyone is to be back in school, we are entering the final stretch before summer! Although spring break has come to an end, many students traveled during their time off from school. I was able to catch up with several of these students who shared their experiences.

“I went to New York City,” says senior Fatou M’Baye. M’Baye went to New York City with her family, including her sister, Amina, who is a freshman. “I went to Ellis Island, I went to the National Imigration Museum, and the Statue of Liberty,” M’Baye adds. She also went to the Met—The Metropolitan Museum of Art—and visited the famous Cornelia Street, which is where Taylor Swift once lived and wrote a song by the same name. “Visiting [Cornelia Street] was one of my goals because I love that song,” M’Baye asserted. While in New York City, M’Baye also visited the well known bookstore, The Strand. 

Junior Cami Rankin also went to the Big Apple. “I went to the Met, and to the Modern Museum of Art,” Rankin says, “that was really fun.” One of Rankin’s favorite things to do in the city is just walk around. “It was a lot different.” While she was in New York City, Rankin got to see the world renown Broadway musical, Hamilton. “I’m a Hamilhead, I’m a Hamilhead,” Rankin exclaimed. This was her first time seeing the musical. “But other than that, I just walked around and went to little cool, fun stores.”

“I went to Puerto Rico,” says junior Maggie Rasalan. She mainly visited tourist attractions, like walking in the rainforest, but one attraction really stood out. “One of the coolest things was, we swam in the Bioluminescent Bay,” says Rasalan. “When you would wave your hand [the water] would light up. I almost died, honestly,” Rasalan adds casually. “There was jelly fish surrounding me, I was cornered.” 

Junior Yulan Wang travels regularly with her mom, and this spring break she went to Michigan and Chicago. “I went to Ann Arbor first and ate the famous Zigerman’s Deli pickle,” says Wang. “It was really good.” While there, she also visited the University of Michigan. “People attacked me and my mom because she was wearing The Ohio State University merch,” Wang adds. After Michigan, Wang and her mom drove to the Chicago area, where they ate fancy sushi that was served one piece at a time. She also toured Northwestern University. “After the tour I went to a thrift store and a bookstore,” Wang adds. “For dinner that night, we had epic tacos.”

It seems like many students were able to leave the terrible Ohio weather, and visit some great places. Regardless if you were able to travel and explore new or familiar places out of state, or relax around town, we are all in the same place – the final weeks of school! Now it’s time to buckle down and push spring fever aside—whenever possible—and have a great conclusion to the 2021-2022 school year.